Photo from “The Cellphones of The Dead”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on April 23, 2018
James Honaker as a police officer at the scene of a mass shooting. Photo by Carole Tarrant.
My five-piece play inspired by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007 — which killed 32 people plus the shooter and stood as the nation’s worst mass shooting until the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 — has been performed numerous places in 2018 as part of the “Code Red” program of short plays about mass shootings.
Here is a photo from the April 20 staged reading in Roanoke, Virginia, which was held at Virginia Western Community College.
MORE:
* Press coverage for “Code Red” reading in Roanoke.
* “The Cellphones of the Dead” included in collection of short plays about mass shootings.
Video of “Just Another Day At The Office” in Virginia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on April 20, 2018
Shakespeare in the Burg in Middleburg, Virginia held a festival of staged readings of short plays on April 8. One of those was my play JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE. Here’s the video.
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE
A young woman is sent on a mission to raid another department for supplies. She comes back as the CEO. A play about sexism in the workplace. Cast: 18 — 12 male, 6 female.
Poster for festival in London that includes one of my shows
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on April 20, 2018
My 10-minute play THE FACE ON MARS will be included in a festival of short science fiction plays in London in May. Here’s the poster.
This includes my short play THE FACE ON MARS.
The same script was produced in Connecticut in 2014; here’s a photo from that show.
Press coverage for “Code Red” reading
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on April 20, 2018
My short play THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD is included the collection of short plays about school shootings that is being performed across the country.
I like a clean work space.
Here’s a story in The Roanoke Times in advance of the April 20 reading in Roanoke, Virginia.
More on THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD and the background of this project here.
“The Cellphones of the Dead” included in collection of short plays
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Other, Productions, Uncategorized on March 24, 2018
My short play THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD has been included in a collection of 20 short plays about school shootings in the United States. Oregon playwright Rachael Carnes put out a call recently for short plays memorializing the victims of specific shootings; I contributed THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD, which was written in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 that killed 32 people plus the shooter. Rachael pulled all the pieces together and organized them so they can be presented in a single reading — or organizers can pick and choose the pieces.
So far, PLAYWRIGHTS SAY NEVER AGAIN TO SCHOOL SHOOTINGS has had readings in Eugene, Oregon; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Montclair, New Jersey.
You can find stories on the New Jersey program here and here.
For more information about how to put on a royalty-free reading of PLAYWRIGHTS SAY NEVER AGAIN TO SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, email coderedplaywrights@gmail.com.
Meanwhile, THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD has been included in a separate program — a staged reading in Washington, D.C. on March 24 to coincide with “March for Our Lives.” That reading, organized by Nu Sass Productions, featured 17 short plays to coincide with the number of victims in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Nu Sass found my play listed through Protest Plays and the New Play Exchange.
Here’s some of what people have said about THE CELLPHONES OF THE DEAD:
“Your piece is stunning.” –– producer
“I had multiple people approach me after and say how moved they were by your play.” –– producer
“It’s one of the more moving pieces for me” — actor.
About the piece:
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.
Cast:
Police officer (M)
Multiple bodies on the floor
Running time: Five minutes.
New poster from “This Rose Has Thorns”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on March 14, 2018
Poster by Julia Allen. Photography by JoKa Photography.
Here’s a new and very amazing poster for my show THIS ROSE HAS THORNS, which opens April 5 in Melbourne, Australia.
THIS ROSE HAS THORNS
A parody of some common Shakespeare themes, with good stage combat roles for women and girls. The daughters of a lord receive letters from their boyfriends, informing them that they have been imprisoned in the Tower of London and expect to be executed. The two girls do what seems only natural to them; they dress up as men and set off to London to rescue them – not realizing that the boyfriends intended these as break-up letters. Comedy ensues. Cast: 13 – 7 females, 6 males.
More on THIS ROSE HAS THORNS:
* First international production of a full-length script announced
More photos below: Read the rest of this entry »
Video: “Putting the Fair In Tooth Fairy” in Houston
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on February 23, 2018
Somewhere in this video is my five-minute piece PUTTING THE FAIR IN THE TOOTH FAIR, produced by Cone Man Running in Houston, Texas in November 2017.
You can find still photos from the production here.
Posters for “This Rose Has Thorns” in Australia
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on February 22, 2018
Here are some posters from my upcoming show in Melbourne, Australia: THIS ROSE HAS THORNS will be produced by the Burwood Student Theatre Company at Deakin University.
Poster.
Another one.
59 productions in 2017
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on January 3, 2018
Updated Jan. 25, 2018 to reflect a publisher who just reported in, adding a new production I didn’t know about.
Counting up the year: I had at least 59 productions and 17 readings in 2017. I say “at least” because some publishers won’t report final tallies for months yet. I had shows in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India and, of course, the United States. Most of these were short scripts, which inflate the numbers but they were done nonetheless. Best places for productions were Maryland 8, Florida 6, Texas 6, Minnesota 5, Washington 5, UK 4, Illinois 4, India 3, Michigan 3 New Jersey 2, Ohio 2, Ontario 2, Virginia 2, West Virginia 2, Australia 1, Nebraska 1, North Dakota 1, Utah 1, Saskatchewan 1. For readings it was Virginia 8, California 5, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina and Oklahoma 1 apiece.
The list could have been 61 productions — because one theatre in Ontario started rehearsing one script then had scheduling difficulties and never did the show, and a high school in West Virginia planned a production but couldn’t perform it for some reason.
You can find the full list here.
Here’s the running list for 2018. It’s still short yet but already includes productions in three countries — Australia, Canada and the United States, as well has two full-length scripts (with hope for a third that’s tentatively scheduled but not yet listed.
Video of “Veronica’s Dolls” in Oklahoma
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Productions, Uncategorized, Video on December 30, 2017
Echo Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma held a staged reading of my one-act VERONICA’S DOLLS on April 23, 2017. I’ve finally got a video of the reading.
VERONICA’S DOLLS
A teenage girl’s old dolls come to life to try to save her life when she attempts to commit suicide by swallowing an overdose of sleeping pills. Cast: Four, plus an off-stage voice to make five. Three female, two non-gender. Running time: Fifteen or so minutes.
