Dwayne Yancey
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‘Investigation of Mourning’ produced at Taubman Museum
Posted in Photos, Productions on October 27, 2025
About a month ago I got a call from Mary Jean Levin, an actress in Roanoke who also has some ties to the Taubman Museum of Fine Art. The museum was planning a gala to open a new exhibit on American art and was looking for a short play as part of the festitivies. The catch: It needed to match the theme and needed to fit into a small space. I set to work and the result was “Investigation of Mourning,” about late 19th century mourning customs and a growing belief in the supernatural.
Katerina Yancey directed, with a cast of Barry Bedwell, Sherilyn Lawson, Brian Lee and Mary Jean Levin.
From left: Mary Jean Levin as the Widow Haversham, Sherilyn Lawson as the medium and Brian Lee as the con man Professor Picadilly.
Brian Bedwell emerges, proving that James Haversham isn’t dead at all.
Overnight Sensations festival produces ‘The Enduring Mystery of Alexander Fairweather’
Posted in Photos, Productions on October 27, 2025
For the 12th time, I took part in July in the Overnight Sensations 24-hour play festival at Hollins University in Roanoke. Here’s director Linsee Lewis drawing our cast. The result was “The Enduring Mystery of Alexander Fairweather,” a ghost story set in an attic.
List of 2025 productions
Posted in News, Productions on December 25, 2024
- January 17: HIT THE BOOKS (one-act), Cleveland High School, Cleveland, Tennessee
- April 24: HIT THE BOOKS (one-act), Manchester Community College, Epping, New Hampshire
- May: RHONDA’S HIGH-CLASS ROADKILL CHILI (full-length), Crimora Players, Crimora, Virginia
- June 27: ONE-WORD MACBETH (one-act), The Jester’s Court Players, Ridgway, Colorado
- July: THE ENDURING MYSTERY OF ALEXANDER FAIRWEATHER (10-minute), Hollins University, Roanoke, Virginia.
- October 25: INVESTIGATION OF MOURNING (ten-minute), Taubman Museum of Fine Art, Roanoke, Virginia.
2026:
January 25: HIT THE BOOKS (one-act), Warroad Public School, Warroad, Minnesota
‘The Fruitcake’ produced in Missouri
Posted in News, Photos, Productions on December 25, 2024
Perry County Middle School in Perryville, Missouri produced THE FRUITCAKE in December. Director Robbie Riehn said he had so many students he had two different casts. Here’s a story about the production in the local newspaper.
More photos below:
‘On The Thirteenth Day of Christmas’ produced in Colorado
Posted in News, Photos, Productions on December 25, 2024
Bayfield High School in Bayfield, Colorado produced ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS in December 2024.
More photos below:
‘On The Thirteenth Day of Christmas’ produced in Virginia
Posted in News, Photos, Productions on December 25, 2024
Attic Productions in Fincastle, Virginia produced ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS in December 2025.
More photos below:
Five of my short scripts performed in Great Britain
Posted in News, Productions on October 5, 2024
Five of my short plays were performed in Great Britain as part of the 20th anniversary of Gi60, the annual Gone in 60 Seconds festival of one-minute plays on Sept. 28, 2024.
My scripts were:
“Counting Wolves”
“On the Way Down”
“Somebody Out There As Lonely As Me”
“The Ghost Lamp”
“Three Trees Talking”
‘Why Do Frogs Look So Sad?’ produced in New York festival
Posted in News, Photos, Productions on August 9, 2024
My 10-minute play WHY DO FROGS LOOK SO SAD? was produced in the festival at The Secret Theatre in New York in late July / early August 2024.
Me with the cast of WHY DO FROGS LOOK SO SAD?
And here’s the director and cast:
Overnight Sensations festival produces ‘Cock-A-Doodle-Did’
Posted in News, Photos, Productions on July 14, 2024
For the 11th time, I was invited to be a writer in Overnight Sensations, an annual 24-hour play festival put on by Hollins University as part of its summer MFA program.
On Friday night, the six writers, six directors and many cast members gathered at Hollins. We had a ceremonial drawing of prompts, directors and casts from a hat, then we writers went off to write. I drew Natalie Tasillo as a director, sitcom as the genre, a county fair as the setting, “even a worm turns” as the theme and Team 4 for the cast. In the photo above, from left to right, that’s Lillian Savage, Natalie Tasillo, Miriam Frazier, Michael Johnson, me, and Janemarie Laucella kneeling. Out of the frame to the right is my old friend Stephen “Stevedogg” Glassbrenner. Photo courtesy of Dan Smith. I felt I lucked out because I normally write comedy, a rural setting is a natural for me and I knew all of the actors except Lillian. In fact, Miriam directed one of my shows in a previous Overnight Sensations, so I could hear all their voices in my head as I was writing “Cock-A-Doodle-Did.”
Here are some photos from the weekend:
List of 2024 productions
Posted in News, Productions on February 3, 2024
- January: SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP (ten-minute), Peekskill High School, New York.
- March 14: THE ONE-WORD MACBETH (one-act), McBride Secondary School, McBride, British Columbia, Canada
- March/May: HIT THE BOOKS (one-act), Lake Melville School, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
- May 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19: SUNSET IN NORTH DAKOTA (one-minute), Gi60 Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, New York, New York
- June 1 -2: SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP (ten-minute), Arlington High School, Lagrangeville, New York.
- July 6: COCK-A-DOODLE-DID (ten-minute), Overnight Sensations festival, Hollins University, Roanoke, Virginia.
- July 12-13: THE CONTACT LENS (ten-minute), Griffin Theatre, Bear, Delaware
- July-August, various dates: WHY DO FROGS LOOK SO SAD?, The Secret Theatre, New York, New York
- September: COUNTING WOLVES (one-minute), produced as part of Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, Leeds, UK.
- September: ON THE WAY DOWN (one-minute), produced as part of Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, Leeds, UK.
- September: SOMEBODY OUT THERE AS LONELY AS ME (one-minute), produced as part of Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, Leeds, UK.
- September: THE GHOST LAMP (one-minute), produced as part of Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, Leeds, UK.
- September: THREE TREES TALKING (one-minute), produced as part of Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, Leeds, UK.
- November: THE FRUITCAKE (one-act), Irvington High School, Irvington, New York
- December: ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS (full-length), Attic Productions, Fincastle, Virignia.
- December: ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS (full-length), Bayfield High School, Bayfield, Colorado
- December: THE FRUITCAKE (one-act), Perry County Middle School, Perryville, Missouri
- December 21: SOME THINGS YOU MUST TAKE ON FAITH (staged reading, Meetinghouse Theatre Lab, Winter Harbor, Maine
- December 21: FATHER CHRISTMAS (staged reading, Meetinghouse Theatre Lab, Winter Harbor, Maine
dwayneyancey 