Archive for category Productions
Video: “The Sandstorm” in Chicago
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on September 16, 2015
Otherworld Theatre in Chicago produced my script THE SANDSTORM as part of the Paragon festival of science fiction plays on August 22. Here’s the video.
It was one of two of my scripts in the show; the other was THE BLACK MARKET OF MEMORIES.
THE SANDSTORM
A dark vision from the last days of Mars. A local official in charge of building canals instead diverts some of the money to build an underground library to store his civilization’s artifacts because he knows Mars is doomed. Cast: Two non-gender. Running time: Seven or eight minutes.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
Final list of awards for “One Word Macbeth” in Australia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews on September 9, 2015
The awesome poster.
Got this email today from the producer of my show THE ONE-WORD MACBETH, which Pop Culture Theatre in Melbourne has produced in various festivals this past few months in the Victorian Drama League:
Dear Dwayne,
I thought that I would do an email to you to just give you a final summing up of how we went with your piece One Word Macbeth.
I know that Bruce has been keeping you in the loop, but just so you can see it all at once in terms of awards:
Foster One Act Play Festival:
Best Production
Kyenton One Act Play Festival:
Runner up best production
Best youth actress (Madeline Hardie)
Best youth ensemble
Best clarity and diction (Chelsea Hyde)
Mt Players One Act Play Festival:
Victorian Drama League Most Promising Performer (Laura Marmion)
Youth Encouragement Award (ensemble)
In addition to the awards above they were also nominated for Best Production at Mt Players, and the adjudicator wanted to nominate them at Kyenton for Best Production by the youth are not allowed to be considered for senior awards. (Yes we are still trying to work out how he awarded them runner up in the youth, but wanted to put them into the seniors!!)
I know that you have mentioned a couple of times about the number of the cast, so just for your own records here is how it can work with 5 performers:
Witch one, Lady Macbeth, Messenger for MacDuff – Chelsea Hyde
Witch two, Guard one, Macduff, Murderer one – Josie Hardie
Witch three, Duncan, Murderer two, Messenger for Macbeth – Alicia Henry
Macbeth – Madeline Hardie
Banquo, Guard two – Laura Marmion
The costumes for all but Macbeth were just one simple thing to show the character – Banquo for example had a tartan sash.
Macbeth was a full costume.
There was lots and lots of running for the cast!
We are filming the showcase performance and we will get you a copy of it, so you can see for yourself how we did it.
Thank you for allowing us to perform your work, thank you for taking the chance and allowing us to do it with not only youth but five of them. We had hoped to get one more performance of this production in competition but the festival declined the entry in favour of an adult one. The organizer of the festival has a history of refusing youth entries and even though the girls have nearly won against adults, she deemed once again that youth are not of a sufficient level of skill to be considered. (Even though OWM kicked the ass of their adult plays at every festival!!)
You work inspired the girls to learn Macbeth, to ask questions about Shakespeare and to suddenly bring the words of the Bard to life to them because it wasn’t just sitting in class and reading. It was a fantastic tool to teach them the importance of words and inflection, a very important lesson that they will now carry with them through their performing lives.
Yours faithfully
John Jennings
There’s one more performance of the show — October 17 at the Knox Community Theatre in Bayswater, Victoria.
* More awards for ONE WORD MACBETH in Australia
* ONE WORD MACBETH wins another award in Australia
* Photos from THE ONE WORD MACBETH in Australia
* THE ONE-WORD MACBETH to be produced in Australia
More awards for “One Word Macbeth” in Australia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews, Uncategorized on September 8, 2015
The awesome poster.
The Australian production of my script THE ONE-WORD MACBETH continues to rack up awards as it makes its way through the spring circuit (it’s spring to them) of the Victorian Drama League festivals.
Here’s what the folks with Pop Culture Theatre had to say about Kyneton’s 59th Festival of One Act Plays:
It’s always a pleasure travelling to Kyneton for their One Act Play festival, amidst the Spring weather and the plenitudes of daffodils everywhere. This year the festival returned to the beloved Bluestone Theatre, host to so many wonderful plays in the past, and 2015 was no exception. Thank you to everyone for such a lovely time!
Kyneton also saw the final festival performance of our youth performers in “One Word Macbeth”. And as a final parting shot, they earned themselves a nice batch of awards!
Clarity of Speech and Projection: Chelsea Hyde (“One Word Macbeth”)
Best Ensemble Work: “One Word Macbeth”
Best Actress: Madeline Hardie (“One Word Macbeth”)
Runner-Up Best Play: “One Word Macbeth”
There’s one more performance of the show — October 17 at the Knox Community Theatre in Bayswater, Victoria.
* ONE WORD MACBETH wins another award in Australia
* Photos from THE ONE WORD MACBETH in Australia
* THE ONE-WORD MACBETH to be produced in Australia
Two of my short scripts to be produced in Ontario in September
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on August 11, 2015
The cast for this year’s festival.
I’m once again thrilled to learn that my work will be included in ASPHALT JUNGLE SHORTS, an annual walking-tour theatre festival in Kitchener, Ontario. I’ve been in it before, and while I’ve never gotten there to see it, the photos and descriptions sound like a blast. Patrons sign up for a walking tour and along the route, live theatre breaks out in various locations.
This year, I’ve got two pieces in the festival:
THREE TREES TALKING
Three trees contemplate the question: If they were human, what kind of human would be they? Cast: Three, non-gender. Running time: One minute.
This was previously produced in England as part of the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival of one-minute plays in 2013; more on that here.
THE WEAKEST FINGER
An adulterous couple meet in a restaurant, and the man points out to the woman that the weakest finger is the ring finger – all seductively, of course. Cast: Two — 1 male, 1 female. Running time: Five minutes.
The show dates are Sept. 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26th.
Here’s some of my previous work in Kitchener that will give you a feel for the event:
* Video of A NICE, RELAXING CUP OF TEA in 2009.
* Photos from REQUIEM FOR A BUZZARD in 2013.
* Photos from CAN I? IN 2014
This means this year I will have had my work produced in at least four countries — the U.S., Great Britain, Australia and now, Canada.
The poster for the 2015 festival.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
“The One-Word Macbeth” wins another award in Australia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews, Uncategorized on August 11, 2015
One of the actresses with the award. The production was called “blood-curdingly amazing.”
Pop Culture Theatre of Melbourne won another award this weekend with a production of my script THE ONE-WORD MACBETH.
The production took “Most Outstanding Youth Production” in the South Gippsland One-Act Play Festival in Foster, Australia, one of a series of festivals through the Victorian Drama League that the group is entered in.
Next up: Kyneton’s Festival of One-Act Plays in Kyneton on Sept. 4-6 and a date TBA in October in Melbourne.
You can find photos from a previous production in Macedon here and more about the show in general here.
The production was called “blood-curdingly amazing.” One critic said: “Loved the play. A clever concept that’s difficult to do well, but they pulled it off.”
Photos from “The One Word Macbeth” in Australia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on July 30, 2015
The Melbourne theatre company Pop Culture Theatre is producing my one-act THE ONE WORD MACBETH to enter in festivals around the state of Victoria over the coming months. The first production was July 25 in Macedon, Victoria.
The host theatre, Mount Players, tells me: “They were nominated for best production and best director. They won the youth encouragement award. Also, the girl who played Banquo won the VDL (Victorian Drama League) Most Promising Performer award. So it’s safe to say they did your work proud!”
The awesome poster.
Here’s how Pop Culture Theatre described it:
A cold weekend up in Macedon – cold, but fun! The Mount Players put on a great festival and were very welcoming to PCT for only our second outing down that way. All four of our plays went over well, as adjudicator Ray Hare was more than happy to tell all. “PCT strikes again!” he said, frequently, complementing us on our fine work, meeting the theatrical challenges of our scripts with nuanced performances and poignancy. All his words.
This weekend also saw our youth group hit the stage for the first time, with “One Word Macbeth”. And as you’ll see from the results, the kids sure came out swinging!
THE AWARDS
VDL Most Promising Performer Award: Laura Marmion (“One Word Macbeth” and “Birthin’ Baby”)
Youth Encouragement Award – Female: The Cast of “One Word Macbeth”
THE NOMINATIONS
Best Production: “One Word Macbeth” and “This Almost Joy”
Best Director: John Jennings (“One Word Macbeth”)
Best Female Lead: Imogen Martin (“Birthin’ Baby”)
Best Male Lead: Bruce Hardie (“This Almost Joy”)
Youth Encouragement Award: Laura Marmion (“Birthin’ Baby”)
The Adjudicator chose not to give Adjudication awards.
Congratulations to all winners and nominees, and to all for another great festival. Now we have a short break before heading down to Foster in August for the South Gippsland Festival! Stay tuned for details about dates!
And also this note to me:
We are very proud of our girls. The adjudicator noted that on your description you called it a play for 10, 12 or 14. You may wish to revise that as it is very much possible with just 5.
They smashed it. The adjudicator refused to split the Best Youth Actress Award and so gave it to them jointly. They were also nominated for Best Production. Not Best Youth Production, but in the overall category.
And the audience loved it. Festivals are very much a theatre crowd and so everyone knows what is going on which makes the ‘Tomorrow’ section so funny.
The witches.
A great close-up of Macbeth.
Photos (and video!) from Synergy Ensemble Theater on Long Island
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on July 30, 2015
Synergy Ensemble Theater on Long Island performed two of my one-minute scripts on July 18 as part of an event to show off the group’s talent to the community. Synergy performed two of my baseball pieces — DEEP INTO OCTOBER and FIREBALLER.
A man working in his backyard envisions himself playing . . . DEEP INTO OCTOBER.
FIREBALLER deals with the curious relationship between God, dinosaurs . . . and a fast ball.
You can find more about Synergy, as well as links to previous productions of DEEP INTO OCTOBER, here.
“Follow The Money: A Modern Fairy Tale” to be produced in California
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on July 29, 2015
My short one-act FOLLOW THE MONEY: A MODERN FAIRY TALE is being produced August 7 in Davis, California at a theatre camp that I believe is connected with the University of California-Davis (at least the director is, I know that much).
This will be the second production of that script, which won an audience award the first time out:
FOLLOW THE MONEY: A MODERN FAIRY TALE
A precocious youth attempts to find the secret to the tooth fairy — by kidnapping her. Where do all those teeth come from? And the money? Cast: Six — two female, four male. Running time: Fifteen minutes.
* Produced at New Voices Play Festival, Old Opera House Theatre, Charles Town, W.Va., June 2013; voted best in show by audience vote.
You can find photos from that show here and more here.
Also: There’ll be an encore production of THE SKY IS FALLING in Mankato, Minnesota on August 25.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
“On the Thirteenth Day of Christmas” to be produced in New Jersey
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on July 21, 2015
I have three full-length Christmas plays (and a fourth in progress). One of those — ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS — will get produced in December at First Avenue Playhouse in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
Still waiting on the specific dates.
This will be the second production of that script; the first was at Santiam High School in Mill City, Oregon in December 2013. You can find a photo from that show here. That director called the show “a true gem.”
ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
A wild, action-packed Christmas farce. A young woman suddenly finds herself receiving the gifts from the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” apparently from an unknown suitor. The play begins on the thirteenth day as she copes with the chaos outside her apartment, as neighbors demand she do something about the noisy birds and pipers and drummers. The woman hatches a plan to shoot the birds and organize the people into an impromptu Christmas parade. Chaos ensues. Cast: 13 — 7f, 3m, 3 non-gender.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
Photo from “An Unexpected Cheese Party” in New York
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on June 29, 2015
From left: Catleen Kelly, Katherine Harte DeCoux, Julie Orkis, not sure, and, as the dead mouse, Anastasia Bell.
Here’s a photo from AN UNEXPECTED CHEESE PARTY, which was produced June 11-13 in New York as part of the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival of one-minute plays.
This involves, as you can see, a dead mouse.
I had two scripts in the New York festival, plus three in the related youth festival, and two more in the British version of the festival. You can read about all those here.
Photo courtesy of Rose Bonczek.
dwayneyancey 