Archive for category Productions
“On the Thirteenth Day of Christmas” called “a true gem”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews, Uncategorized on December 17, 2013
One of my Christmas plays, “On the Thirteenth Day of Christmas,” was produced last week in Oregon at Santiam High School in Mill City.
This marks my sixth full-length script to be produced.
Director Bill Brown sends this account (and promises photos soon):
“It went very well. Many people commented on how funny the show was and all thoroughly enjoyed it . . . Thank you for the awesome opportunity to “test out” On the 13th Day of Christmas for you. It is a true gem.”
I have a synopsis — plus a list of my other full-length scripts that have been produced — here. As “On the Thirteenth Day of Christmas” is unpublished, it remains available royalty-free.
“Softball Is Life” to have staged reading January 4
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on December 10, 2013
I’m thrilled to announce that my latest full-length script, “Softball Is Life,” will have a staged reading on Saturday, January 4, 2014 at Showtimers in Roanoke, Virginia.
Melora Kordos of Lynchburg will direct. The cast consists of Kelly Anglim, James Honaker, Stevie Holcomb, Patrick Kennerly, Jeff Price, Gary Reid, Emma Sala and Heather Sexton — an all-star cast of performers from the Roanoke Valley (with the exception of Jeff, who is an all-star performer from Lynchburg.)
This is a script I’m very excited about and was eager to see and hear how it works. I’m indebted to Showtimers for helping make this happen, and the talent cast and director for volunteering their time.
My goal was to write a sports play for women, although the result is somewhat different. Despite the title, this play isn’t really about sports; it’s about something else entirely. Relationships, I suppose you could say.
The quick synopsis goes like this: A former high school softball star sits in prison, estranged from her 14-year-old daughter, who shares her gift for pitching but doesn’t realize it. Instead, she is more concerned about protecting herself from the predatory boyfriend of the cousin she’s forced to live with.
Note: Some adult language and situations.
There is no sports action in the show (sports action always being hard to depict on stage, anyway.) The opening scene has the sounds of a softball game happening off-stage; after that, the play takes place entirely outside softball season. Some of it takes place in a women’s prison; some of it takes place around a Dumpster.
Cast of eight — three women, one teen-age girl, three men, and one non-gender role (the school custodian, which will be played here by Jeff Price.)
At least eight productions this fall, including one in India
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on November 9, 2013
The flag of India. I’m about to have my first production there.
I have at least eight productions this fall, including my first in India!
I say “at least eight” because some of my publishers don’t report productions until after they’ve happened, so it’s likely that number is higher.
But here are the ones I do know about, which are happening in six different states and the forementioned Republic of India!
* The one-act “The Fruitcake,” a Christmas show, remains my most frequently-produced script. It’s published by Brooklyn Publishers these four productions will take me up to the 40th production mark:
— Patrick Henry Academy, Estill, South Carolina, Oct. 29
— McCool Schools, McCool Junction, Nebraska, Nov. 1
— New Underwood School District, New Underwood, South Dakota, Nov. 23
— Mitchell High School, Mitchell, Nebraska, Nov. 26.
* The one-act “Hit the Books” continues to climb up the charts. It’s published by Eldridge Plays and Musicals and these two productions will be the 13th and 14th of this script:
— Milestone Public School, Milestone, Montana, Nov. 23
— Catholic Central High School, Burlington, Wisconsin, Dec. 14
* The hour-long one-act “Macbeth Goes Hollywood” is my second most-production script. It’s also published by Eldridge Plays and Musicals and this production will be the 26th production — and my first in India.
— Pathways School Gurgaon, Gurgaon, India, Nov. 16. (This is on the outskirts of New Delhi.)
That won’t be my first production in Asia, though. Earlier this year, a group in Singapore produced another of my one-acts, “Mac and Beth.” It also was a Shakespeare spoof, perhaps underscoring how much Shakespeare is a universal language.
On another note, I’m struck again by how many productions I get in the Upper Midwest.
Finally, as previously noted, one of my full-length scripts is scheduled for production in December in Oregon — “On the 13th Day of Christmas” at Santiam High School in Mill City, Oregon. That will be the first production of that script, but will be the sixth full-length script I’ve had produced.
Note that all these one-acts have been published, so royalties are involved. But impoverished directors take note, I have many more scripts that are unpublished and I allow those to be produced royalty-free. Here’s why.
F0r more on these and all my other scripts, see the scripts category.
Audio: Seven of my pieces on Falcon Radio Theatre
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Productions, Radio plays, Uncategorized on October 22, 2013
Falcon Radio Theatre at Seattle Pacific University ended its run on May 21, 2013 with a grand finale that included seven of my pieces.
Specifically:
* “The Liberal Arts Pirates”
* “Occupations”
* “Zucchini Are Planning to Take Over the World”
* “God and the Devil Meet for a Business Lunch”
* “If Cats Had Lawyers”
* “Damsel Not in Distress”
* “Somewhere Tonight the Last Washington Senators Game Still Plays On.”
“Occupations” is a one-act; “God and the Devil” and the “Washington Senators” are ten-minute scripts; the rest weigh in at about five minutes.
The audio has just now gone online, and here it is.
“A Woman’s Word Versus the Machine” wins award at Subversive Theatre
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews, Uncategorized on October 18, 2013
I’ve just learned that my short piece “A Woman’s Word Versus the Machine” won the Plebian’s Choice Award at the Subversive Theatre in Buffalo, N.Y. this summer.
Audience members voted each night on their favorites and in the end, mine emerged as the winner for the “alpha” night. (The theatre had two different shows, which alternated.) Mine was described as “a very well written little gem.”
Here’s my synopsis of the piece:
A WOMAN’S WORD VERSUS A MACHINE
A dark, serious piece about rape. A woman alleges she was assaulted by her household robot. But the company claims it was not a fault of product design. Cast: Two — one male, one female. Running time: Five minutes.
• Staged reading at No Shame Theatre, Roanoke, Va., spring 2012.
(I had a previous post about other work I’ve had at Subversive here.)
This is the second time this year one of my works has been voted an audience favorite. In June, my 10-minute script “Follow The Money: A Modern-Day Fairy Tale” was voted the audience choice at the New Voice Theatre Festival in Charles Town, West Virginia.
Suffice it to say this dark piece about a woman raped by a robot is very different from a frothy little piece about the tooth fairy.
Video of “Fishing for Men” at Gone in 60 Seconds Festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Productions, Uncategorized, Video on October 1, 2013
Here’s the video of my short piece “Fishing for Men,” as performed in this year’s Gone in 60 Seconds Festival of one-minute plays at Brooklyn College in New York.
This is not to be confused, of course, with the short film version of the same piece.
I also have still photos from the same production.
Audio of “Catch of the Day” on Falcon Radio Theatre
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Productions, Radio plays, Uncategorized on September 30, 2013
The radio station at Seattle Pacific University produced my one-act “Catch of the Day” as a radio play on April 23, 2013.
The audio is just now becoming available.
On that same show, Falcon Radio Theatre also produced one of my five-minute scripts, “Zucchini Are Planning to Take Over the World.”
CATCH OF THE DAY
A nervous mother is preparing to entertain her daughter and the daughter’s new boyfriend. She’s eager for the match to succeed. She’s instructed her husband to pick up some fish on the way home for dinner; he mistakenly acquires a fugu, a type of fish prized as a delicacy in Japan — but which is also highly poisonous, if improperly prepared. Naturally, the woman succeeds in poisoning the daughter and her boyfriend — sending them into a trance. Comedy ensues, while the pair are frozen in position through part of the play. Cast: Two males, two females. Running time: 30 minutes.
Here’s a list of audio to some of the other pieces I had on Falcon Radio Theatre:
* “The Angel of Brooklyn” (one-act)
* “Lucy” (one-act)
* “God and the Devil Meet for a Business Lunch” (ten-minute script)
* “Somewhere Tonight, the Washington Senators’ Last Game Plays On” (ten-minute script)
* “Cat and Dog” (five-minute script)
* “If Cats Had Lawyers” (five-minute script)
* “The Last Day of School” (five-minute script)
* “The Liberal Arts Pirates” (five-minute script)
* “The Secret Lives of Goldfish: Breakout!” (five-minute script)
* “The Secret Lives of Goldfish: Pirates!” (five minute script)
* “The Viking Funeral of Harold Olafson” (five-minute script)
Falcon Radio Theatre also did my one-act, “Occupations,” but there doesn’t seem to be audio available of it.
“Requiem for a Buzzard” is reprised in Ontario
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on September 27, 2013
Photo by Paddy Gillard-Bentley
My short piece “Requiem for a Buzzard” was produced this summer in Kitchener, Ontario as part of the Asphalt Jungle series. It’s an annual festival of outdoor theatre, in which the audience is taken on a walk around downtown and encounters short pieces of theatre at various venues.
The group is now holding a 10th anniversary festival — a “best of” its first decade, and I was honored to have “Requiem for a Buzzard” included. Artistic Director Paddy Gillard-Bentley shares this photo of the audience as it assembles at the staging point for my piece.
MORE ON THE BUZZARD PIECE:
* Photos from the June production
* Poster for the June production
REQUIEM FOR A BUZZARD
What do buzzards do when one of their own becomes roadkill? They say a few words of remembrance, then they eat him. Cast: Three, non-gender, but perhaps best as two male, one female.
This is one of many short pieces I have which are available royalty-free.
UPDATED: Here are some more photos from Paddy of the actual performance:
Poster from “Virginia’s Real” at Cobb County Playhouse
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on September 24, 2013
I’m not sure how I overlooked this earlier, but this was the poster for my full-length script “Virginia’s Real,” which played at the Cobb County Playhouse in suburban Atlanta in 2006.
VIRGINIA’S REAL
A Southern family is divided over what to do with the family farm when the patriarch retires. The drama focuses on the farmer’s youngest daughter, a waitress and single mom named Virginia, who is eager to subdivide the farm as a way to make her fortune. Her goal is complicated by the prospect
of a new highway going through the neighborhood – and the discovery of Civil War artifacts on the site. The story deals with a variety of universal themes, but also many topical references, from urbanization of rural areas, the preservation of historical sites, and NASCAR. Cast : 11 – 4 adult
females, 3 adult males, 4 female children (two teens, two pre-teens), and one off-stage voice which can be either male or female. Set requirements:
Minimal, although at various points you’ll need to create some aspects of a kitchen and a diner.
* Finalist, Shenandoah International Playwrights, Staunton, Va., 2004.
* Produced by Cobb Playhouse, Acworth, Ga., July 2006.
Audio of “The Last Day of School”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Productions, Uncategorized, Video on September 24, 2013
The radio station at Seattle Pacific University produced my short piece “The Last Day of School” as a radio play on April 23, 2013.
The audio is just now becoming available.
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