Archive for category Productions
Three more one-minute shows in a New York festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on June 13, 2015
I’ve got three one-minute pieces being produced in #NextGen, the youth version of the annual Gone in 60 Seconds festival of one-minute plays in New York.
Those pieces are: AN UNEXPECTED CHEESE PARTY (which is also being done in the adult version), THE FOUNTAIN OF TOO MUCH YOUTH, and THE LITTLE RED HEN THINKS BIG.
They’re being done June 12 at Brooklyn College.
AN UNEXPECTED CHEESE PARTY
Some mice found one of their fellows dead in a mousetrap. What to do, oh what to do? What else? Eat the cheese! Cast: Four, non-gender. Running time: One minute.
THE FOUNTAIN OF TOO MUCH YOUTH
An older couple drinks from the fountain of youth — but they drink too much, and of differing amounts, and so now she’s 16 and he’s 10. Cast: One teen-age girl, one pre-teen boy.
THE LITTLE RED HEN THINKS BIG
The Little Red Hen as a commodities broker. Cast: Three (one female, one male, one non-gender) or four (one female, two male, one non-gender.)
I have two pieces in the adult version — AN UNEXPECTED CHEESE PARTY and THERE ARE NO CELLPHONES IN SHAKESPEARE. So that makes five pieces in all in the New York leg of the festival. Plus I had two more done on the British side of the same festival: SLAM POETRY and THE ONLINE AFFAIR. So that makes seven!
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
“Black Market of Memories” and “The Sandstorm” to be produced in Chicago
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on June 10, 2015
I’m going to have a one-act and a ten-minute play produced in Chicago. (UPDATE: This will be August 22.)
Otherworld Theatre is holding its PARAGON Science Fiction and Fantasy Play Festival later this year. Today I get this word: “We are pleased to inform you that your plays Sandstorm and Black Market of Memories have been selected to be two of 40 plays performed in our upcoming PARAGON Science Fiction and Fantasy Play Festival. We were flooded with over 200 wonderfully creative play submissions and yours stood out among the very best.”
This will be the second production of THE BLACK MARKET OF MEMORIES:
THE BLACK MARKET OF MEMORIES
A young woman wakes up in a strange place — and discovers she’s had her memories stolen. Now that doctors have devised a way to transplant memories, there’s a lively market for memories — and a black market of stolen ones. The woman shares a recovery room with another woman, who specializes in “customizing” memories — doing things for rich donors that they’d never do themselves, but would like to remember doing. A dark, serious piece, which is carried primarily by the two women; the other characters appear only intermittently. Cast: Five — one male, two female, two non-gender. Running time: Twenty five minutes.
* Produced by End Times Productions, New York, N.Y., July 2011.
This will be the first production of THE SANDSTORM:
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, that means in the span of just three days, I’ve scored productions in New York, Chicago and Minnesota.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
“The Sky Is Falling” to be produced in Minnesota
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on June 10, 2015
My ten-minute play THE SKY IS FALLING will be produced July 16 in Mankato, Minnesota.
This will be part of the Picnic in the Park Local Talent Variety Show, an annual event which this year includes: “New to Picnic is a “Youth Training Workshop” where youth, ages 11-18, can explore all aspects of produucing a short, 10-minute play.Experienced adult mentors from Merely Players Community Theatre (Seth Rausch, Breanna Boyce) and Mankato Mosaic Theatre Company (Jen Potocnik) will work with these youth.”
This production came completely out of the blue. Usually I go submitting scripts to theaters. Here, one came to me. Program director Elaine Hardwick asked some local theaters for appropriate scripts; one of them was a place where I had submitted . . . and so she contacted me.
This will be the second production for this script:
THE SKY IS FALLING
Two squirrels conduct an experiment, dropping things off a powerline. The result: Chicken Little gets hit on the head and thinks the sky is falling. Comedy — and a rap song — ensue. Cast: Five – 1 male, 1 female, 3 non-gender. Running time: Ten minutes.
* Produced by Piano Fight Productions, Marin County, California, September 2014.
I never got any photos from the previous production but do have this publicity photo.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
Two more one-minute plays to be produced in New York
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on June 10, 2015
Two more of my one-minute plays will be produced in New York.
Synergy Ensemble Theater will be producing two baseball-themed shorts — DEEP INTO OCTOBER and FIREBALLER — on July 18 at Geiger Park in Deer Park on Long Island.
As I understand it, the theater has found a new home and, to show its gratitude to its new host, is staging an evening of short works to show of its performers. It’s always good to be produced, but especially so when this helps give a theatre new life.
DEEP INTO OCTOBER has been produced twice before, both times in New York — there’s video of this production in the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival in 2011 and photos from this benefit for hurricane victims in 2012.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
Two one-minute plays to be produced in New York festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on May 15, 2015
Two of my one-minute plays will be produced in June at the U.S. version of the annual Gone in 60 Seconds Festival of one-minute plays. They will be June 11-13 at Brooklyn College in New York.
I also had two different pieces produced in the British edition of the same festival in early May. (See photos and video here.)
The two pieces in New York will be THERE ARE NO CELLPHONES IN SHAKESPEARE and THE UNEXPECTED CHEESE PARTY.
THERE ARE NO CELLPHONES IN SHAKESPEARE
A director does to an audience member with a cellphone what a lot of directors would surely like to do. Cast: Four, non-gender.
AN UNEXPECTED CHEESE PARTY
Some mice found one of their fellows dead in a mousetrap. What to do, oh what to do? What else? Eat the cheese! Cast: Four, non-gender. Running time: One minute.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
Video: Two of my one-minute plays in festival in Britain
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on May 15, 2015
A scene from THE ONLINE AFFAIR at its dress rehearsal.
Two of my short plays were performed at the British version of the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival of one-minute plays on May 5 in Leeds.
They were SLAM POETRY and THE ONLINE AFFAIR.
SLAM POETRY
Two guys misunderstood, and think a poetry slam is where you slam poets into the ground as in a wrestling match. Physical comedy ensues. Cast: Three — two males, one non-gender. Running time: One minute.
THE ONLINE AFFAIR
A man and a woman – either husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend – are sitting near each other, each texting on their phones. Except each thinks they’re texting to a secret online lover, when, in fact, they’re unknowingly texting each other. Cast: Two – one male, one female – or four – two male, two female.
Here’s the whole show. SLAM POETRY comes on at 7:26 and THE ONLINE AFFAIR is at 49:54.
So far in 2015: Read the rest of this entry »
“The Monkey At The Wedding” garners four prizes in Massachusetts competition
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews on May 4, 2015
The cast of The Monkey At the Wedding. From right to left,
Top row: Father of Bride, Groom, Best man, Minister, Granny, Monkey, Mother of bride.
Bottom row: Pluto, Mother of groom, Zoe, Maid of Honor, Fatima, and the Bride.
My one-act THE MONKEY AT THE WEDDING had its debut on May 1 at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Acton, Massachusetts.
This was part of a festival and I’m told the production won four prizes. The actress playing Fatima won best actress; the actor playing Bobo the Monkey won best actor, plus there were firsts for best make-up and “best slap.”
Yes, that kind of slap!
Of note: The Fatima character was one I added in a re-write when the director said she had 13 people audition for 12 parts but felt bad about leaving someone out — so that re-write clearly paid off. The actor who won best actor — his part had no lines!
Photos to come.
Here’s a previous post about the show.
So far in 2015:
* Jan. 3: Staged reading of MISS COW PIE BINGO (full-length), Showtimers, Roanoke, Virginia.
* Feb. 6: Production of MACBETH GOES HOLLYWOOD (long one-act), Gull Lake High School, Richland, Michigan
* Feb. 13: Staged reading of 39 HOURS IN THE SOVIET CITY OF ROSES (full-length), Poetic Theater Productions, New York, N.Y.
* Feb. 13: Staged reading of three short pieces: CHERRY POP TARTS, MY CRIMSON LOVE and LUST, at Garfield Center for the Arts, Chestertown, Maryland.
* Feb. 25: Staged reading of THE RING (one-act) and CAT ON TRIAL (five-minute play), The Readers Repertory Theatre of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.
* March 25: Staged reading of THE BREAK-IN (five-minute play), The Readers Repertory Theatre of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.
* March 25-27: Production of HAMLET GOES HOLLYWOOD (long one-act), High Meadows School, Roswell, Georgia.
* May 1: Production of THE MONKEY AT THE WEDDING (one-act), Acton-Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, Massachusetts. (Won four awards in competition, including best actor and best actress.)
* May 1: Short film KISS MY ASHES GOODBYE wins audience prize at Bike Shorts Film Festival, Roanoke, Virginia.
Upcoming:
* Summer: THE ONE-WORD MACBETH, Pop Culture Theatre, Melbourne, Australia.
“The One-Word Macbeth” to be produced in Australia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on April 24, 2015
I’ve just scored my first production in Australia. Pop Culture Theatre in Melbourne will produced my longish one-act, THE ONE-WORD MACBETH, this summer.
The script will be produced by the theatre’s youth ensemble, and apparently the kids picked the script, or at least had a hand in its selection. The theatre tells me: “Our youth performers are aged 15 – 18 and have asked to perform your piece this year because they want a challenge.”
As I understand it, the script will be done at the theatre, and then entered in three or four competitive festivals put on by the Victorian Drama League.
This will be the second production for the script. Here’s a synopsis:
THE ONE-WORD MACBETH
The Macbeth story, told with each character speaking lines that cost of only one word. Complete with witches and sword-fights, but limited dialogue. Cast: Ten or twelve or fourteen. If ten, 4 male, 4 female, 2 non-gender. If twelve, 4 male, 4 female, 4 non-gender. If fourteen, 4 male, 4 female, 6 non-gender. Running time: 45 minutes.
* Produced by West High School, West, Texas, Feb. 16, 2008.
I have several other “one-word” scripts:
THE ONE-WORD ANTIGONE
The classic Greek drama Antigone, more or less, in which each line consists of just a single word. Ideal for a class project. Cast: 10 – 3 female, 4 female, 3 non-gender.. Running time: Twenty five minutes.
THE ONE-WORD HAMLET
The story of Hamlet, much condensed, in which each actor speaks only one word at a time. Cast: Thirteen — 11 males, 2 females. There’s potential to double two male roles. Running time: Fifteen minutes.
• The eight-minute version of this script was performed in a staged reading in Herring Run Arts Fest, Middleborough, Mass., September 2005.
THE ONE-WORD ODYSSEY
The story of the Odyssey, more or less, in which each line consists of just a single word. Ideal for a class project. Includes monsters and a talking hamburger. Cast: As few as 18 — 9 males, 3 females, 6 non-gender — or as many as 33 — 17 males, 7 females, 9 non-gender. Running time: One hour.
THE ONE-WORD ROMEO AND JULIET
The essence of the Romeo and Juliet story, in one scene, with each
character uttering just one word at a time. Cast: Seven — 6 male, 1 female.
There’s also a slightly inaccurate version that can be done with a cast of four
3 male, 1 female. Running time: Fifteen minutes.
So far in 2015:
* Jan. 3: Staged reading of MISS COW PIE BINGO (full-length), Showtimers, Roanoke, Virginia.
* Feb. 6: Production of MACBETH GOES HOLLYWOOD (long one-act), Gull Lake High School, Richland, Michigan
* Feb. 13: Staged reading of 39 HOURS IN THE SOVIET CITY OF ROSES (full-length), Poetic Theater Productions, New York, N.Y.
* Feb. 13: Staged reading of three short pieces: CHERRY POP TARTS, MY CRIMSON LOVE and LUST, at Garfield Center for the Arts, Chestertown, Maryland.
* Feb. 25: Staged reading of THE RING (one-act) and CAT ON TRIAL (five-minute play), The Readers Repertory Theatre of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.
* March 25: Staged reading of THE BREAK-IN (five-minute play), The Readers Repertory Theatre of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.
* March 25-27: Production of HAMLET GOES HOLLYWOOD, High Meadows School, Roswell, Georgia.
Upcoming:
* May 1: THE MONKEY AT THE WEDDING, Acton-Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, Massachusetts.
* Summer: THE ONE-WORD MACBETH, Pop Culture Theatre, Melbourne, Australia.
Another short play has a staged reading in Los Angeles
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on April 7, 2015
My five-minute piece “The Break-In” had a staged reading at The Readers Repertory Theatre of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California on March 25, 2015.
This is the second month in a row the group has done some of my work at their monthly gathering.
THE BREAK-IN
Two elderly women break into a high school, trying to steal a trophy they felt their team should have won back when they were in school. Cast: Four: Two senior women, two men.
So far in 2015:
* Jan. 3: Staged reading of MISS COW PIE BINGO (full-length), Showtimers, Roanoke, Virginia.
* Feb. 6: Production of MACBETH GOES HOLLYWOOD (long one-act), Gull Lake High School, Richland, Michigan
* Feb. 13: Staged reading of 39 HOURS IN THE SOVIET CITY OF ROSES (full-length), Poetic Theater Productions, New York, N.Y.
* Feb. 13: Staged reading of three short pieces: CHERRY POP TARTS, MY CRIMSON LOVE and LUST, at Garfield Center for the Arts, Chestertown, Maryland.
* Feb. 25: Staged reading of THE RING (one-act) and CAT ON TRIAL (five-minute play), The Readers Repertory Theatre of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.
* March 25: Staged reading of THE BREAK-IN (five-minute play), The Readers Repertory Theatre of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.
* March 25-27: Production of HAMLET GOES HOLLYWOOD, High Meadows School, Roswell, Georgia.
Upcoming:
* May 1: THE MONKEY AT THE WEDDING, Acton-Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, Massachusetts.
Two short plays have staged reading in Los Angeles
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on March 19, 2015
Two of my short plays had staged readings in Los Angeles last month, I learned today.
The Readers Repertory Theatre at San Pedro (a neighborhood of LA) featured a reading of the one-act THE RING and the five-minute script CAT ON TRIAL on Feb. 25 at the Croatian Cultural Center of Los Angeles.
Here are synoposes:
THE RING
Sixty years after a close call in a state championship girls basketball game, the star of the losing team still can’t reconcile herself to losing — so she breaks into the home of the star player on the winning team, hoping to steal her championship ring. A poignant story about regrets and sportsmanship. Cast: Two senior females.
• Produced at Haylofters, Burlington, Wisconsin, May 2014. (Placed second in audience vote at festival.)
• Staged reading at Readers Theatre of San Pedro, (Los Angeles), February 2015.
CAT ON TRIAL (The Active Retirement of Irene Anderson)
A retiree puts the neighbor’s cat on trial because it caught a bird. Two versions available. Cast: Two seniors — one male, one female.
• Staged reading at Readers Theatre of San Pedro, (Los Angeles), February 2015
So far in 2015:
* Jan. 3: Staged reading of MISS COW PIE BINGO (full-length), Showtimers, Roanoke, Virginia.
* Feb. 6: Production of MACBETH GOES HOLLYWOOD (long one-act), Gull Lake High School, Richland, Michigan
* Feb. 13: Staged reading of 39 HOURS IN THE SOVIET CITY OF ROSES (full-length), Poetic Theater Productions, New York, N.Y.
* Feb. 13: Staged reading of three short pieces: CHERRY POP TARTS, MY CRIMSON LOVE and LUST, at Garfield Center for the Arts, Chestertown, Maryland.
* Feb. 25: Staged reading of THE RING (one-act) and CAT ON TRIAL (five-minute play), The Readers Repertory Theatre of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.
Upcoming:
* March 25-27: Production of HAMLET GOES HOLLYWOOD, High Meadows School, Roswell, Georgia.
* May 1: THE MONKEY AT THE WEDDING, Acton-Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, Massachusetts.
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