Archive for category Video
Video: “Q Downsized” at the Liminal gallery
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on February 29, 2012
The Liminal Alternative Artspace in Roanoke, Va. hosts a monthly reading. It is geared toward writers of all sorts, though attracts a lot of poets and short storywriters. I’d never been to one of the Liminal readings, but the organizer, Cara Modisett, invited me to participate so I did.
The theme for the December 2011 reading was “downsizing.”
This shows my limited imagination: To me, spending my day in the business world, downsizing only meant one thing. Layoffs. A reduction in force. Job losses.
Conveniently, I had a piece that fit perfectly: “Q Downsized,” in which the letter Q is “let go” from the alphabet. Cara helped me find two students at Community High School to perform — Lilly Carr and Karl Kaiser.
To my amazement, everybody else at the reading that night had a very different take on “downsizing.” To them, downsizing meant . . . moving into smaller living spaces, downsizing lives, dreams, and so forth. There were some very powerful — and very sad — pieces read.
Then, at the end, came this piece, which was quite different indeed.
Fortunately, the audience howled with laughter.
The video for this is just now going up online, so that’s why it’s out of order. I had another reading in January at Liminal, “White Goes First” to match the Martin Luther King Jr. Day theme.
Video: My team’s film entry in the Marginal Arts Festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Uncategorized, Video on February 23, 2012
In 2009, videographer Hank Ebert and I collaborated on a short film that was shown at the Grandin Theatre: “My Kid Could Paint That.”
In the years since, Hank and I have talked about working together again, but our schedules have never matched up — until now.
A few weeks ago, Hank contacted me. The annual Marginal Arts Festival in Roanoke, Va. this year included a Sweded Film Festival (a “sweded” film is a short spoof of the original; name comes from the movie “Be Kind Rewind”). Hank asked if I’d sign on to his team as a writer. I said sure.
It turns out, Sweded films don’t really need writers, but that’s another story.
The festival was the film equivalent of a 24-hour play festival (and I’ve been involved in three of those.)
There were eight teams entered. We gathered at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18 at The Shadowbox and were given our assignment: Do a Sweded version of “Back to the Future.” Conveniently, I had already lined up actors.
The crowning touch to our version, I think, was finding an actual DeLorean. We figured we’d be stuck using matchbox cars but Blair Peyton said he remembered seeing a DeLorean in last year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, so there must be one around. I Googled “DeLorean and Roanoke” — indeed, I found a name of a guy — then I found his number. And lo, he was home! And more than happy to bring his DeLorean out for a spin.
We were the only team that had the actual car! When the car appeared on screen for the first time at Monday night’s screening (packed house!), there were “oohs” and “aahs” and a ripple of applause around the room.
The car scenes were shot at the Greenfield Center in Botetourt County, the clock tower is from the Botetourt County Courthouse, the Libyan terrorists are circling around in The Roanoke Times parking lot, and the rest of the scenes were shot in and around actress Hannah Whitt’s house in Salem. (Roanoke is a small place; two of other entries both shot scenes at Pop’s Ice Cream shop, and at least three of the entries were shot in the Grandin Village neighborhood.)
You can see some of the other entries in this post on arts writer Mike Allen’s Arts & Extras blog.
“White Goes First” at Martin Luther King Jr. Day reading
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Uncategorized, Video on January 19, 2012
A few years ago, I read a wire story in The Roanoke Times about “street chess” in Washington, D.C.
The style of “street chess” among African-American players in the nation’s capital is apparently nothing like the version we know from international competitions — faster and louder, for one thing.
The story noted that the chess rule that the white players always go first quite considered quite ironic. That led to this piece “White Goes First.”
It’s been performed several times. This staged reading was at an event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2012 at the Liminal Gallery at Community High School in Roanoke, Virginia.
Bryan Hancock plays “black,” Chad Runyon plays “white.”
“The Chicken on the Side of the Road” at Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, New York
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Uncategorized, Video on January 19, 2012
I grew up on a chicken farm and continue to find them, um, fascinating. Here’s my piece “The Chicken on the Side of The Road” at the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival one-minute plays at Brooklyn College, New York, in June 2011.
“Deep Into October” at Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, New York
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Uncategorized, Video on January 19, 2012
My one-minute script “Deep Into October” at the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival at Brooklyn College, New York in June 2011.
It’s about baseball, part of a series of baseball shorts I’ve done.
There are two versions — one with a boy, this one with a girl.
“Bored and Cruising at 37,000 Feet” at Labyrinth Festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in No Shame Theatre, Uncategorized, Video on January 19, 2012
When my daughter was studying overseas, we used to make regular trips to Dulles airport to pick her up or deliver her. That led to several airplane-related pieces, including this one: “Bored and Cruising at 37,000 Feet.”
It was originally performed at No Shame Theatre in Roanoke. This video is from a special No Shame engagement at the Labyrinth Festival in Roanoke, Va. in March 2011.
“The Happiest Place in America” in San Luis Obispo, California
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in No Shame Theatre, Uncategorized, Video on January 19, 2012
I read a newspaper story that said a survey found that the happiest place in America was San Luis Obispo, California.
Conveniently, there’s a No Shame Theatre there and they were kind enough to do this reading of my one-minute script on January 28, 2011.
“The Queen of Her Own Prom” at Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, UK
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Uncategorized, Video on January 19, 2012
“The Queen of Her Own Prom,” performed at the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival — the U.K. edition, in June 2010.
“Someone Out There As Lonely As Me” at Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, UK
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Uncategorized, Video on January 19, 2012
“Someone Out There as Lonely As Me” at the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival in the U.K. in June 2010.
“Fireballer” at Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, New York
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Uncategorized, Video on January 19, 2012
Here’s another one of my baseball shorts performed at the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival at Brooklyn College, New York. This one was in June 2010.
The piece is “Fireballer,” which came to me one weekend when I was pitching (not very well) to my son.
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