Emma Sala, as Meredith, gets everyone’s attention. Well, except maybe her father, who’s passed out drunk (Zeke, played by Tim Kennard).
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I held a staged reading of my new play, MISS COW PIE BINGO, on Saturday, January 3, 2015 at Showtimers in Roanoke, Virginia. It’s a Southern comedy.
The basic plot: A Texas mother desperately wants one of her daughters to win a beauty pageant. Problem is, neither of them have any interest. One just wants to shoot guns. The other is a video gamer. That doesn’t stop the mother from hiring a pageant consultant anyway, who turns out to be a fraud. Comedy ensues. There’s also a robot.
The reading was directed by Melora Kordos.
The cast:
Rhonda, the mom: Heather Sexton
Meredith, the oldest daughter: Emma Sala
Thomasina, aka, Zelda, the youngest daughter: Gwyneth Strope
Zeke, the father: Tim Kennard
Libby, the crazy grandmother: Nancy Lawrence
Debbie, the pageant consultant: Kelly Anglim
Horace, the newspaper editor: Patrick Kennerly
The coffee machine that’s been turned into a robot: Jason Patrick Palmer
Stage directions were read by Luke Clark.
Here are some photos from the event (or you can see the full set here.) Also, some audience feedback is at the very bottom.
The actors — in this case, Emma Sala and Gwyneth Strope — arrive for the 2 p.m. rehearsal.
First, the table read.
Luke Clark, who’s reading stage directions, finds something funny.
OK, time to get this thing up on its feet. Director Melora Kordos gives instructions.
Zeke — played by Tim Kennard — spends much of the show like this.
Thomasina is a video gamer who prefers to go by Zelda (Gwyneth Strope.)
From left: Zelda (Gwyneth Strope) plays video games. Meredith (Emma Sala) wishes she were out shooting. Rhonda (Heather Sexton) plots the next pageant. Zeke (Tim Kennard) — well, you know about Zeke.
Meredith (Emma Sala) really likes her gun. That’s Luke Clark reading stage directions.
Zelda (Gwyneth Strope) reacts to her video game. Meredith (Emma Sala) is not impressed.
Zelda (Gwyneth Strope) has turned the coffee machine (Jason Patrick Palmer) into a robot.
Debbie, the pageant consultant (Kelly Anglim) is under a lot of stress. So she drinks a lot.
In the local newspaper office: Libby, the crazy grandmother who is obsessed with conspiracy theories (Nancy Lawrence), the editor Horace (Patrick Kennerly) and Zelda, who’s going to build him a website (Gwyneth Strope).
And now we have the coffee machine in the newspaper office, too.
Did we mention that Meredith (Emma Sala) really likes her gun?
Rhonda (Heather Sexton) tries to get Zeke (Tim Kennard) sobered up.
Spoiler alert: Zelda (Gwyneth Strope) hacks into a website to change pageant rules so that only her mom (Heather Sexton, at right) qualifies. Debbie, the pageant consultant (Kelly Anglim) looks on.
Newspaper editor Horace (Patrick Kennerly) finds himself at gunpoint from Meredith (Emma Sala.)
The crowd files in. We had nearly a full house. The man in the black, standing at right, is Congressman Bob Goodlatte.
Here’s some of the feedback later, collected from social media:
“We were in Virginia this weekend, and got to see a staged reading of Dwayne Yancey’s play, “Miss Cow Pie Bingo.” I laughed all the way through. This man knows how to deliver funny!”
— Darlene F.
“That show was laugh out loud funny, as anyone present who knows what my laugh sounds like would definitely know.”
— Mike A.
“Had a blast! What a fun show.”
— Linsee L.
“When this play is fully developed, it will be a killer.”
— Dan S. (Note: Revisions in progress!)
“Thank you, Dwayne, for being a force of creativity in this town! It was a great night!”
— Warren F.
dwayneyancey 