Two one-acts to be produced in Albuquerque in November
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on July 12, 2014
I got word this week that not one but two of my one-acts will be produced this November in Albuquerque.
Now here’s where things get interesting: Both of these are one-acts about science, and they’re being produced as part of the Short Science Play Showcase at the Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum.
I’m told there were nearly 200 entries, and two of mine wound up on the list of nine shows being produced. (I’m not sure all nine are one-acts, some might be shorter, unclear on that.)
The two are A MARTIAN WESTERN and DEMOTING PLUTO. This will be the first production for both although DEMOTING PLUTO was a semi-finalist in the Drury University One-Act Play Contest back in 2004 (but semi-finalists weren’t produced.)
A MARTIAN WESTERN deals with climate change — on the Red Planet. DEMOTING PLUTO was written before that icy body got the heave-ho, and envisioned how it could happen. Now it can serve as a behind-the-scenes story of how that might have happened. Political attack ads!
Here are the formal descriptions:
DEMOTING PLUTO
A fast-paced commentary on modern-day attack ads in politics, and the
public’s lack of scientific knowledge. A political consultant and an astronomy
professor team up to wage a media campaign aimed at reclassifying Pluto
from a planet to an asteroid. A comedy, with a sharp point. Includes
audience participation, and two alternate endings, depending on the
outcome. There are two versions, a long version and a short version.
Short version:
Cast: Six — 4 males, 2 females. Running time: 30 minutes.
• Semi-finalist, Drury University One-Act Play Contest, 2004.
A MARTIAN WESTERN
Mars is drying up. A roughneck laborer and a civil engineer building canals find themselves in a Old West-style saloon looking for a drink of water when a rancher and a farmer find themselves in a showdown over who’s responsible for a dried-up well. The overriding theme: Lawlessness.
Cast: 8 — four male, four non-gender.
Production dates are November 7, 8, 14, 15, 22, and 23.
“Unwanted” takes second place at Waynesboro Film Festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Uncategorized, Video on July 10, 2014
The short film “Unwanted” that Hank Ebert and I put together for the Bike Shorts Festival recently took second place in the audience vote at the Waynesboro Film Festival in Waynesboro, Virginia.
We also took second at the audience vote at the bike festival, too. We are the kings of second place!
* Background on the Bike Shorts Film Festival and other films Hank and I have done
Three scripts produced on Viking Radio Theatre
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Radio plays, Uncategorized on June 23, 2014
In early 2013, Falcon Radio Theatre at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle (duh!) produced a bunch of my scripts as radio plays. You can find the audio versions of those in the “radio plays” section.
One of the students involved with that project moved on to Western Washington University, where he is now working with Viking Radio Theatre — and me!
This spring, three of my scripts were done as radio plays.
Episode One above features “God and the Devil Meet for a Business Lunch” and
“Somewhere Tonight, the Washington Senators Last Game Still Plays On.” Both run about ten minutes.
Episode Three, below, has the one-act “Occupations.”
OTHER PRODUCTIONS OF THESE SCRIPTS:
* “God and the Devil Meet for a Business Lunch” — radio play by Falcon Radio Theatre in Seattle, video by Homespun Productions in Sacramento and an old-fashioned staged-reading at the Lake Players in Virginia.
* “Somewhere Tonight, the Last Washington Senators’ Game Plays On” — radio play by Falcon Radio Theatre in Seattle.
* “Occupations” — radio play by Falcon Radio Theatre in Seattle.
“Sometimes Elephants Die Standing Up” to be produced in London
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on June 20, 2014
My 10-minute play SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP will be produced in London this September by Ghost Dog Productions. It will be part of an evening of plays on the theme of “deception” produced Sept. 22-24 at The Horse & Stables, which appears to be on Westminster Bridge Road in the Waterloo section of London.
This will be the first production of the script, although it had a staged reading last month, also in the U.K. — that one in Scotland through Unproduced Moon.
Here’s a synopsis:
SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP
Two lowly circus workers try to figure out what to do with an elephant dies. An absurdist look at how the economy works. Cast: Two males. Running time: Ten minutes.
New York actor praises my work as “complex, beautifully structured”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Reviews, Uncategorized on June 19, 2014
From Facebook!
While taking my morning walk last Saturday, I came upon a startling sight: A hornet’s nest lying in the road, brought down by a storm the previous.
Thankfully, this was an old nest, unoccupied for some time. (I’d been keeping an eye on it as I walked under it each morning, just to be sure.)
Naturally, I did what everyone does these days. I took a picture of it with my phone, and zapped it out to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. On the latter, it produced much chatter, including this high praise from a New York actor I know: “Hornet nests seem an apt metaphor for your plays: complex, beautifully structured, fascinating and vaguely dangerous. Although I’ve never found hornet nests to be as funny as I find your writing. Hornets need to work on that.”
As I note in the screen capture, hornet’s nest figure in both THE BALLAD OF ALEJANDRO LOPEZ and SOFTBALL IS LIFE. In the former, a young boy’s pitching prowess is discovered when he hurls a rock through a hornet’s nest. In the latter, a high school principal tries to solve two problems at once — the softball coach refuses to recognize a girl’s throwing skills, and the neighboring landlord refuses to remove a hornet’s nest near the school grounds. You can probably guess how that goes.
Here’s the nest, if you’re curious:
A hornet’s nest, fallen from the sky! Or, at least a tree.
“The Other Side of Oz” to be produced in Montana in August
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on June 4, 2014
The poster that Backyard Theatre is using for THE OTHER SIDE OF OZ.
A few years ago, Kevin Jones of the Kevin Jones Performing Arts Studio asked me to write some Oz-related scenes for a theatre camp he was having. Conveniently, the Oz books are in the public domain (the movie isn’t, so things in the books can be adapted; things in the movie cannot be. All that is explained quite well here by the New Media Rights people.)
I ended up writing about two dozen pieces with Oz themes, with titles such as THE MORALLY AMBIGUOUS WITCH OF THE NORTH, featuring a witch who got written out of the story completely, and DOG CASES, in which the sheriff complains about how emotional animal incidents can be, and DOROTHY ON THE COUCH, in which Dorothy seeks psychiatric help about her ordeal. Kevin used some in his camps, and reported they went well. Since then, a few scenes have been performed here and there, such as THE TIN WOMAN, seen in this video.
I took the whole bunch and packaged them together as THE OTHER SIDE OF OZ. It’s not a true full-length play, since there’s not a single narrative running through it, although the running time would add up to a full evening of entertainment.
This week, I got word that Backyard Theatre in Billings, Montana will perform all or most of the pieces August 1-3.
If you count this as a full-length script, this would be the seventh full-length I’ve had produced.
The others would be:
* ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, a Christmas comedy produced by Santiam High School in Oregon in December 2013.
* SWEETS TO THE SWEET, a female version of Hamlet produced by Gorilla Tango Theatre in Skokie, Illinois in September 2013.
* 57 HOURS IN THE HOUSE OF CULTURE, a dark re-telling of the Moscow theatre siege, produced in Virginia in 2012.
* RED MOON RISING IN THE EAST, a one-man play about the father of the Soviet space program, produced in Virginia, Wisconsin and Minnesota in 2009 and 2010.
* VIRGINIA’S REAL, produced in suburban Atlanta in 2006.
* JOSE AND MARIA, AN OLD STORY FOR NEW TIMES, a Christmas play produced in Virgina in 2004.
This could have been my eighth full-length production; KLAUS was scheduled for production in Virginia in 2012 but the theatre closed before the season started. Instead, it had this staged reading instead.
You can find my entire list of full-length scripts here.
Four scripts in New York festival; two in British festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on May 30, 2014
I got word today that not one, not two, not three but FOUR of my scripts have been accepted into the Gone in 60 Seconds #NextGen festival in New York in June. This is a festival of one-minute plays that will be performed by teens. It’s an outgrowth of the regular Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, where I’ve been a regular.
The “regular” festival is June 13-15 in New York and includes my play IT’S THE COW’S FAULT, discussed here.
The #NextGen portion is June 14-15.
Of the 26 scripts accepted into #NextGen festival, four are mine:
BOLIVIA!
A geopolitical lesson, delivered as a rant by a woman against a man who has committed some grievous sin. Cast: One female.
THE CALL OF THE OPEN ROAD
Two chickens discuss why they should cross the road. Both a long version and a one-minute version. Cast: Two, non-gender.
JIMMY’S PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION
Versions 1 and 2: A boy and his sister plot how to take over the world. Cast: Two — one male, one female. Running time: One minute.
Version 3: A classroom scene in which a teacher finds a student plotting how to take over the world. Cast: Two have speaking roles — one juvenile male, one female adult, then however many kids you need to fill out the scene. Running time: One minute.
THREE TREES TALKING
Three trees contemplate the question: If they were human, what kind of human would be they? Cast: Three, non-gender. Running time: One minute.
* This was previously produced in the 2013 British edition of the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, along with two other scripts.
Speaking of the British edition, I also learned today I have two scripts there this year, as well.
They are:
THE CHICKEN CROSSES MADISON AVENUE
Guess which road the chicken crossed to get to the other side. Cast: One, non-gender. Running time: One minute.
COUNTING WOLVES
A person trying to get to sleep is counting sheep, when a wolf appears, dressed in sheep’s clothing. Cast: At least four – all non-gender.
That production will be June 5 in Halifax, U.K.
That brings the grand total of upcoming productions to:
Just concluded:
* May 17: THE RING, a one-act, at Haylofters, in Burlington, Wisconsin. (Voted second place in audience vote.)
* May 23: SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP, a ten-minute play, Unproduced Moon Company, Scotland.
Coming up:
* May 30: THE RING, a five-minute script, at Newburgh Free Academy, Newburgh, N.Y. Details here.
* June 5: THE CHICKEN CROSSES MADISON AVENUE and COUNTING WOLVES, Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, Halifax, U.K.
* June 13-14: BOLIVIA!, THE CALL OF THE OPEN ROAD, JIMMY’S PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION, and THREE TREES TALKING, at Gone in 60 Seconds #NextGen Festival, New York, N.Y.
* June 13-15: IT’S THE COW’S FAULT, at Gone in 60 Seconds Festival, New York, N.Y.
So that’s eight in all going on right now — five in New York City, one outside New York City and two in Great Britain.
The Gone in 60 Seconds Festival folks have the entire line-up and more details here. And, as always, all of these scripts are available royalty-free. Here’s why.
“The Ring” finished second out of 260 entries in Wisconsin
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on May 29, 2014
My second place certificate.
I’m a pack rat, so I always ask theatres that perform my work to send me posters, programs, photos, and what not if they can. When The Haylofters in Burlington, Wisconsin recently performed my one-act, THE RING, I didn’t have to ask. Since this was a competition, the theatre mailed me my certificate.
As previously noted, THE RING took second place in the audience vote. What I didn’t realize until I read the program was there had been 260 entries. Second place out of 260? I’ll take that!
Thanks, Wisconsin!
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that THE RING, like all my unpublished work, is available royalty-free. I explain why here.
More photos below: Read the rest of this entry »
Playwright and . . . naturalist?
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Personal, Uncategorized on May 22, 2014
The first eastern snapping turtle recorded in Botetourt County, Virginia. Who knew?
Almost every morning, I take a walk. To breath in the fresh country air. To exercise body as well and mind. This morning, as I was hoofing it back home, I looked up and . . . “holy crap!” (Actually, I said something a little more colorful). There was a giant turtle crossing the road. And doing so at a pretty good clip for a turtle.
Naturally, I did what anybody else nowadays. I took a picture with my photo, and posted it to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, where a small fight soon broke out among some of my Facebook friends over just what species it was. Eventually, they all agreed, but that’s getting ahead of the story. Fellow Botetourt County filmmaker (and Girl Scout leader) Jane Garnett identified it as an eastern snapping turtle, and provided a link to the Virginia Herpetological Society’s turtle page as proof. There, I discovered an email address called “animal identification,” so I clicked it and sent ’em my pix of the turtle in question.
Lo! Before long, I received an email back verifying this was an eastern snapping turtle. Even better, I was told this was the first time an eastern snapping turtle had been documented in Botetourt County. Obviously the critters have been around a long time — it’s well within their range — and surely others have seen ’em. But no one had documented this with the society until now! I was promptly invited to file a scientific field note — instructions were provided! — and I was told:
“Once your field note is published in Catesbeiana, we will update our website/databases and you’ll be recorded in Virginia history as the first person to document an eastern snapping turtle in Botetourt Co.”
As if that wasn’t enough, the society president himself soon emailed me to chime in:
“This is a great opportunity to get recognition for your observation! But if you are not interested or unable to create the field note, let us know and one of us will help you as a co-author.”
Recognition? Who knew! So now can I add “naturalist” to my name?
For the record, and by golly, this is all for the record, here’s the field note I submitted: Read the rest of this entry »
“The Ring” takes second place in audience vote at Wisconsin festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews, Uncategorized on May 21, 2014
My one-act, THE RING, took second place in the audience vote at the annual one-act festival put on by The Haylofters in Burlington, Wisconsin.
Thanks, Wisconsites!
THE RING is one of several sports plays for women I have. (The full-length SOFTBALL IS LIFE is another, so is the one-act POWDER PUFF, about football, along with several baseball-themed pieces that run about five minutes or less.)
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.
A five-minute version of this script is being performed later this month at the Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh, New York. Here’s some background on the origin of both scripts.
Last year, I had two scripts take first place in audience votes at festivals. FOLLOW THE MONEY: A MODERN FAIRY TALE took the prize at the New Voice Play Festival in Charles Town, West Virginia while A WOMAN’S WORD VERSUS A MACHINE won an audience vote at the Subversive Theatre in Buffalo, New York.
dwayneyancey 