Dwayne Yancey
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Review: ‘Miss Mitchell’s Comet’
Posted in News, Reviews, Uncategorized on September 10, 2021
Jack Seamus Conley of the Rainy Day Arts Collective in Seattle, Washington posts on the New Play Exchange this very nice review of MISS MITCHELL’S COMET, my two-person (but mostly one-woman) play about Maria Mitchell, America’s first female astronomer.
“Fascinating and well-rendered story about an important but not-well-enough-known figure in scientific history. The use of the supporting actor to play the whole cast of characters in Maria’s life is an excellent move and really brings the focus on what matters: centering Maria Mitchell in a world that doesn’t give her achievements enough credit. Fabulous piece, and I always love seeing amazing historical women centered. ”
You can find a video production of this script here.
Review: ‘The Weird Sisters Go Rogue’
Posted in News, Reviews, Uncategorized on September 10, 2021
Jack Seamus Conley of the Rainy Day Arts Collective in Seattle, Washington posts this lovely review on the New Play Exchange of my one-act THE WEIRD SISTERS GO ROGUE:
Love this piece! Incredibly creative female-centric take on Macbeth that is sure to delight Shakespeare lovers, witch enthusiasts, and appreciators of parody/comedy alike. I’m always enthralled by pieces that give additional voices to the more “minor” characters in well known tales, and “The Weird Sisters Go Rogue” does not disappoint. ”Love this piece! Incredibly creative female-centric take on Macbeth that is sure to delight Shakespeare lovers, witch enthusiasts, and appreciators of parody/comedy alike. I’m always enthralled by pieces that give additional voices to the more “minor” characters in well known tales, and “The Weird Sisters Go Rogue” does not disappoint. ”
Video: ‘Sometimes Elephants Die Standing Up’
Posted in Uncategorized on August 21, 2021
Chill Bucket Productions, based both in Seattle and Westchester County, New York, produced by 10-minute play SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP, in July.
Photos from Cone Man Running in Houston
Posted in Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on June 21, 2021
Cone Man Running is an annual festival of short plays in Houston, Texas. Well, almost annual. I had two shows set for 2020 that got scratched due to the pandemic but they’re now being done in this multi-week festival in late June / early July 2021.
Two border patrol agents in Arizona are on the look-out for illegal immigrants. The veteran explains the desert to the rookie, with a twist at the end. (play) (Directed by Christine Weems; Performed by Scott Searles and David Toscano)
A young assistant at a funeral home misunderstands a widow’s instructions. (play) (Directed by Kacie Adams; Performed by Rafael Lozano and David Toscano)
‘The Show Must Go On (With Some Exceptions) in Virginia
Posted in Photos, Uncategorized on May 17, 2021
In January, Showtimers community theatre in Roanoke, Virginia contacted me and asked if I would write them a script for a special event they were planning in May. What they wanted was a “silly script for a cast of six” that they’d do as an outdoor reading. The catch is that the cast wouldn’t see the script until they stepped on stage. So I wrote the script — THE SHOW MUST GO ON (WITH SOME EXCEPTIONS. To test it out, I held a private Zoom reading with a cast from Canada. Let’s give a shout-out to that cast:
Stage directions: Stacey Halloran
Toby: Robin Bennett
Percy: Mason Micevski
Cee Cee: Emily Bolyea-Kyere
Dee Dee: Arlene Thomas
Third Tree From the Left: Giselle Magie
Director: Lynne McIntee
Showtimers cast the show randomly, so wound up with one man playing a female role and one woman playing a male role:
Toby: Norm Fergusn
Percy: Sherilyn Lawson
Cee Cee: Bev Amsler
Dee Dee: Owen Merritt
Third Tree From the Left: Cathy Fisher
Director: Jayne Brill
Curtain call. From left: Cathy Fisher, Owen Merritt, Bev Amsler, Norm Ferguson, Jayne Brill, Sherilyn Lawson.
For more photos, see here.
Four pieces in Florida
Posted in News, Photos, Productions on April 27, 2021
Rough Magic Shakespeare Company in Florida produced four of my short pieces as part of their Shakespeare’s birthday celebration on April 23, 2021. Three of the four pieces — THE SHIPWRECK, THE GROUNDSKEEPER and MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE — were written in their quick-turnaround challenge event, the 14th quick turnaround play festival I’ve been involved in. The fourth, LADY MACBETH’S LAMENT, is an older piece.
‘Blood Relatives’ in Seattle festival
Posted in Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on April 21, 2021
I’ve now taken part in 14 quick turn-around play festival. The latest was through the Rainy Day Arts Collective in Seattle although in this new virtual reality, the writers, directors and actors were from all across North America. We gathered virtually on Friday, April 9. I drew these prompts: Who (a bride), What (a game), Where (someplace scary), When (a family reunion and Why (“you’re going to have choose, is it [blank] or me?”). My result: BLOOD RELATIVES, directed by Sally Miller of Roanoke and starring Kelsey Boulton of Seattle as a vampire and Stephanie Kamau of Olympia, Washington as the fiance marrying into a vampire family.
Photos from ‘Veronica’s Dolls’ in Roanoke
Posted in Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on April 16, 2021
Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke County, Virginia produced my one-act VERONICA’S DOLLS in April 2021, directed by Joe Kavanaugh.
Video: ‘The Stanley Cup Goes Missing’
Posted in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on April 15, 2021
Last month I took part in a 48-hour play challenge through This Moment Productions in Chicago. Here’s the video of the show: ‘The Stanley Cup Goes Missing,” directed by Dane Rogers and starring Stephanie Reynolds (upper left), Marc Motiejunas (upper right) and Sarah Hoback (below).
Also, here’s the awesome logo designed by Dana Hall, one of the producers.
‘The Stanley Cup Goes Missing’ produced in Chicago
Posted in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on April 2, 2021
Well, kind of in Chicago. On March 26-28 I took part in a 48-hour play festival sponsored by This Moment Productions, which is in Chicago, although the theatre had writers, directors and actors from 13 states and one Canadian province.
I drew “thriller/mystery” as my genre, then we were all instructed to use “did you enjoy yourself last night?” as our opening line and “I miss moments like this more than anything” as our closing line. We also had to construct a way to explain why all our characters were speaking virtually and encouraged to make use of all the whiz-bang technology available through the Steamyard platform, including the ability to do a TV-like “crawl.” I was assigned director Dane Rogers of Cincinnati and a cast of three — Sarah Hoback of Cincinnati, Stephanie Reynolds of Des Moines and Marc Motiejunas of London, Ontario. As soon as I heard the opening line, I immediately pictured a lawyer speaking to a client in jail. Surprise! Turns out Marc really is a lawyer — a prosecutor. What I came up with: THE STANLEY CUP GOES MISSING. More photos below:
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