“Extracted” praised for ‘precise comic sensibility’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Reviews, Uncategorized on December 5, 2018
OK, this is in the form of a rejection notice. But keep in mind that most theatres, in their rejection notices, never say anything specific at the work — they’re usually just form letters, which I don’t mind. But this one from a New York theatre was different:
“Thank you for sharing your play EXTRACTED with us at [name of theatre]. We quite enjoyed the play’s precise comic sensibility and symbolic meditation on contemporary America.” Then came “I’m afraid it’s not a perfect fit for [name of theatre] at this time.” Not a hit, but some nice words that the theatre didn’t have to say.
Here’s the synopsis of the show:
EXTRACTED
A dark allegorical tale about modern politics and immigration. An American truck driver sleeping in his cab at a truckstop in southern California is awoken by two teenage girls, Sam and Libby. He thinks they’re truckstop prostitutes and tries to run them away. Instead, the one explains that she has rescued her sister from drug gangs in Los Angeles and is trying to take her home to safety in New York. The rescued sister is our allegorical Statue of Liberty. In fact, she has not been rescued; she has been drugged against her will, for reciting — and practicing — the poem at the statue’s base: “give me your tired, your poor . . . ” As the roadtrip across North American unfolds, we see that the older sister is not, in fact, a protector and rescuer, but rather her kidnapper, who is trying to brainwash her. Along the way, the keep running into another truck driver, who is taking the same route across the country, and a mysterious woman. In the climactic scene, Sam has hired a tattoo artist to blot out “The New Colossus” poem that Libby has tattooed on her. Just then the two mystery figures burst in — revealing themselves to be special agents for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who are mounting a hostage rescue and extraction to take Libby to safety in Canada. They are joined by a Mexican intelligence agent, as well, who they had previously met along the way at a truckstop. Cast: Eight — Five female (including who can pass for teens, and one Latina adult), three male.
Poster from ‘Let There Be Lights!’ in Pennsylvania
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 30, 2018
The poster.
My one-act LET THERE BE LIGHTS! is being produced Dec. 19 at Otto-Eldred High School in Duke Center, Pennsylvania. One of the students drew a poster for the show. This reminds me that theatre is such a collaborative art form that brings in many disciplines. Here somebody got to use their artistic talent.
This script is getting produced a lot this winter:
* Staged reading at Seton Hall University, Seton Hall, New Jersey, December 2015. (Photos here.)
* Produced by Liberty High School, Liberty, Texas, December 1, 2017. (Photos here)
* Scheduled to be produced by Otto-Eldred High School, Duke Center, Pennsylvana, December 19, 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by St. Luke’s Methodist Church, Hickory, North Carolina, December 19, 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by Pine Island High School, Pine Island, Minnesota, December 21, 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by Geo Prep Mid-City of Greater Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, December 2018.
Poster from ‘Curiosity Killed The Cat’ in Cameroon
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 30, 2018
The poster.
My one-act CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT was produced Nov. 17 at The American School of Yaounde, Yoaunde, Cameroon. It wasn’t my first production Africa — I’ve been produced previously in South Africa — but was my first in Cameroon.
This was the fourth production of the script, with a fifth scheduled in 2019 in Canada.
* Produced by Attic Productions, Fincastle, Va. March 2011.
* Produced by Red River Revue, Clarksville, Texas, May 2017.
* Produced by RuBarb Productions, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, May 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by the American School of Yaounde, Yaounde, Cameroon, November 2018.
* Scheduled to be produced by Turner Fenton Secondary School, Brampton, Ontario, February 2019.
Poster for ‘Nursery Crimes’ at school in Florida
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 30, 2018
The poster.
Here’s the poster for my one-act, which is being produced along with another show Dec. 4 at Emerald Coast Middle School in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.
That will be the fourth production of that script. The previous three:
* Stonewall Jackson High School, Mount Jackson, Va., March 13-14, 2009.
* Esk-Dale High School, Millard County, Utah, March 2017.
* Paris Community Theatre, Paris, Texas, spring 2018.
Staged reading of “The Christmas Spiders” in Virginia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 20, 2018
Spiders hiding in hopes of not being stepped on.
My short play THE CHRISTMAS SPIDERS had a staged reading as part of Attic Productions’ Christmas Playwriting Festival on November 17, 2018. For more photos, see here.
Curtain call.
3/4ths of a play and 1/5th of a play
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on November 13, 2018
The cast. From left, Kris Sorensen, Vanessa Mills, Joel Gruver, Betsy Quillen and Kelly Anglim.
Director Nick McCord asked me if I’d be one of five playwrights in a semi-collaborative project called NOT ANOTHER EXQUISITE CORPSE? The deal was one playwright would write 15 pages, then pass it on to the next playwright, who would only see the first playwright’s last two pages, and so forth and so on.
The only rules: We had a five-person cast previously lined up. Each character had to be in those last two pages. And we couldn’t kill someone off — unless we created another character for that actor to play. Otherwise, it was all fair game.
So I said sure. The other playwrights were Claire Wittman of Virginia, Shelby Love of Florida, Caitlin Gilman of Chicago and Kate Leslie of Chicago. As fate would have it, I drew the first straw. Actually, Nick drew it for me. I asked the cast for some prompts — I wound up with an genre of noir, a prop of diet soda, a line from Shakespeare and, well, I forget the others now but there were five, one from each actor. I was the over-achiever. I wrote an actual one-acts — about 20 pages — on the theory that I wanted something I could market after the project was over. I ended up writing two completely different ones — first, TONGUE OF THE DOG and then THE CURIOUS CASE OF JOCKSTRAP MALONE. Nick chose the latter one (it was the better choice for this project) and took the first 15 pages.
The result, once it ran through all the playwrights, was a delightfully silly mash-up but also an excellent writing project. So it’s fair to say that I had 3/4ths of a play produced as 1/5th of a play. And now I have two new one-acts to market.
The poster.
Video: “Picking Up Stars” in New York festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on October 31, 2018
In June, my one-minute play PICKING UP STARS was included in the annual Gone in 60 Seconds Festival of one-minute plays in New York. Now, the video is available.
Three pieces in industry showcase in London
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on October 26, 2018
This is the poster for Creative Collisions.
I have not one, not two but three short pieces in Creative Collisions, a industry showcase being presented in London (yes, that London) on Nov. 27 at the Cockpit Theatre.
The three pieces are CURTAIN SPEECH, BOLIVIA! and THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD.
The full title of CURTAIN SPEECH is CURTAIN SPEECH FROM THE HOUSE OF CULTURE OF STATE BALL-BEARING PLANT NUMBER 1 and is a standalone version of the opening scene of my full-length script at the 2002 Moscow theatre siege, 57 HOURS IN THE HOUSE OF CULTURE.
Poster for showcase in London
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on October 26, 2018
Poster for Horror! Horror!
I have one piece in the one-night show Horror Horror, being presented Oct. 28 in London (yes, that London) by Bashir Productions at the Et Cetera Theatre as an industry showcase.
My piece is listed here as CURTAIN SPEECH. The full title is CURTAIN SPEECH FROM THE HOUSE OF CULTURE OF STATE BALL BEARING PLANT NO. 1, and is a stand-alone version of the opening scene of my full-length script 57 HOURS IN THE HOUSE OF CULTURE, based on the true story of the 2002 Moscow theatre siege.
“The Cellphones of the Dead” in Minneapolis
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on September 27, 2018
The police officer at the scene of a mass shooting. Photo courtesy of Casey Holmes.
My short play based on the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007 has gotten produced a lot this year as part of various theatrical productions that have risen up in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida this spring. In September, THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD was included in the Safety Off show at The Phoenix Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Producer Casey Holmes shares this photo gallery.
THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD
A police officer’s somber monologue: He was at the scene of a mass shooting, and could literally hear the awful news start to spread — as the cellphones of the victims started to ring with desperate messages from their frantic friends.
Also:
* Photos from Roanoke, Virginia, April 2018
* THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD included in collection of short plays
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