“The Longest Home Run Ever” at the Liminal
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Uncategorized on May 21, 2014
A rare shot of the playwright performing his own work. Photo by Heather Yvonne Brush
I don’t usually perform my own work. For one thing, I don’t claim to be an actor. But mostly, I want to see how my work, well, works — and it’s hard to do that when you’re doing it.
However, this month’s theme at the monthly readings at the Liminal gallery in Roanoke was “Anything Goes,” so why not.
Heather Yvonne Brush took this photo of me performing THE LONGEST HOME RUN EVER, one of my many short pieces about baseball.
THE LONGEST HOME RUN EVER
Based on actual science, the explanation of the longest home run possible. Cast: One, non-gender. Running time: Five minutes.
More photos here.
Video: The short film “Unwanted” in the Bike Shorts Film Festival
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Uncategorized, Video on May 19, 2014
Just about every year, Salem filmmaker Hank Ebert and I collaborate on a short film. The past two years, it’s been an entry in the local edition of the Bike Shorts Film Festival — short films about bicycles.
This year’s entry was “Unwanted.”
The cast includes Kelly Anglim, Charlie Boswell, Martha Boswell, Noah Jones, Nancy Lawrence, Gary Reid, Blair Peyton, Chad Snyder, Ana Uotinen, Lauren Uotinen and Katerina Yancey. Here’s the result.
We didn’t win the judges’ prize; that went to a wonderful documentary that a London-based filmmaker made about bicycles in Cuba. Hard to beat that! We didn’t win the audience vote in Roanoke, either. That went to a film that was 17 minutes long (even though the rules said 10 minutes). But I’m told we did come in second.
Here are some still photos from the filming, which was done in March.
If you’d like to check out our previous efforts, they’re here:
In the past, we’ve done:
* “My Kid Could Paint That” for a festival at the Grandin Theatre in 2009
* “Back to the Future” for a Sweded film festival in the 2012 Marginal Arts Festival.
* “The Secret Lives of Goldfish” for the 2013 Bike Shorts Festival (behind-the-scenes photos here.)
Scripts to be performed in New York and Scotland
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on May 19, 2014
I have good news to report:
* My one-minute play IT’S THE COW’S FAULT is among those included in this year’s “Gone in 60 Seconds Festival” of one-minute plays, to be produced June 13-15 in New York City. I’ve been thrilled to be part of this festival in the past and it’s great to be back for another year. Here are photos and video from last year’s entry, FISHING FOR MEN.Out of that, the festival producers created this short film version for a different competition. Also, last year I had three scripts in the festival’s UK version. Here are rehearsal photos from THIS IS THE CAPTAIN SPEAKING.
* Meanwhile, my 10-minute play SOMETIMES ELEPHANTS DIE STANDING UP will have be performed May 23 in Scotland by the Produced Moon company. (I’m a little uncertain whether it’s a staged reading or a full production; pretty sure it’s a staged reading. And I’m not sure whether it’s in Edinburgh or Glasgow; the company produces in both cities.) This will be my first performance of any sort in Scotland.
Here are the synopses:
IT’S THE COW’S FAULT
Three chickens and a cow watch a chicken cross the road. Bad things happen. Cast: Four, non-gender. Running time: One minute.
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.
Photos from “Chef Pierre Does Not Do Simple” in Newburgh, N.Y.
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on May 8, 2014
Cabot Parsons as Chef Pierre.
The Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh, N.Y. has run an annual festival where solicits scripts worldwide, the students pick the ones they want and then produce them. Alas, the school board there has seen fit to cut the program. The final festival is coming up later in May and will include my script “The Ring.” In the meantime, director Terry Sandler, who is presumably packing everything up, came across these photos from the 2009 production of my script “Chef Pierre Does Not Do Simple.”
Here’s the synopsis:
CHEF PIERRE DOES NOT DO SIMPLE
A television producer explains to a TV chef that he need to simplify some of his language because many younger viewers do not understand them. He reacts badly and winds up creating a mess with broken eggs and flour. Cast: Four — One male, three non-gender. Running time: Ten minutes.
Terry writes:”The gentleman playing Chef, Cabot Parsons, made a huge mess; eggs went flying, milk spilled everywhere, and tons of flour. There are still remaining stains on the curtains and ceiling from that performance. But it was bloody hilarious.”
Thanks, Terry, for finding and sharing the photos. Here are some more: Read the rest of this entry »
“The Ring” to be produced in Wisconsin in May
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on April 22, 2014
My one-act “The Ring” is one of three one-acts that will be produced May 17 by The Haylofters in Burlington, Wisconsin in the troupe’s annual one-act competition.
The other two are “My Date With The Pope” by Ron Frankel and “a Serious Person” by John Doble.
I’m always excited to have a script selected but especially thrilled by this one, which is one I’ve wanted to see produced for quite some time. Here’s the synopsis:
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.
I wrote this a few years ago after watching a state championship girls basketball game. One team (the winning team, as it turns out) featured a much-acclaimed star who was destined for college ball. She was guarded throughout the game by a player who was not so heralded and, if she went on to play in college, I never heard about it. For purposes of my script, I envisioned the star and the other play in their retirement. It’s a sad little script, with a smile at the end.
I also have a five-minute version of this script — the genesis of the one-act. That five-minute script is also being performed in May, at the Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh, New York. Details on that here.
“The Ring” (in either version) is unpublished, so, like all my unpublished work, is available royalty free. Details on how and why here. Here’s a full list of my scripts.
“The Ring” is also part of what has become a small collection of sports plays for women and girls. None have sports action, though all use sports as a backdrop or a motif. I have the full-length script “Softball Is Life” — which had a staged reading in January 2014 — plus the one-act “Powderpuff” and several five-minute scripts, including “The Recruiter,” which is play of my full-length baseball play, “The Old Ballgame.”
The Last Supper
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Personal, Uncategorized on April 22, 2014
I don’t claim to be an actor, but that didn’t stop me from getting “volunteered” for a role in the Fincastle United Methodist Church’s presentation of “The Last Supper,” a piece by Ernest K. Emurian that brings to life the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Written in the 1950s, the piece calls for the actors to assume the pose in the painting — for quite a long time actually! Then, over the course the evening, each one delivers a monologue about their thoughts on that fateful night.
Here I am in 2010, when I portrayed Peter (that’s me on the left, in the back, in the tan robe, leaning over to talk to “John” in blue):
“The Last Supper” at Fincastle United Methodist Church, Fincastle, Virginia, in 2010.
And here I am in 2014, when I portrayed Simon the Zealot, on the far right:
“The Last Supper” at Fincastle United Methodist Church, 2014.
Thanks to Marsha Campbell and Cathy Benson for the photos.
If you’re curious, I’ve written a few religious-themed plays. “Jose and Maria: An Old Story for New Times” is a full-length Christmas play, that adapts the Christmas story to modern times. It’s been produced. I also have several five-minute pieces suitable for churches (and which have been produced in churches.) Most of those deal with either Christmas or Easter.
Another photo below: Read the rest of this entry »
“God and the Devil Meet for a Business Lunch” by the Lake Players
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions on March 31, 2014
Blake Lipscomb as the devil and Mary Anne Leslie as God. Photo by Heather Yvonne Brush. Note the Sopranos hat.
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I have a series of short pieces involving God and the Devil, which always end the same way, with the angelic Almighty getting the better of the harried Prince of Darkness. The Lake Players, at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, included the 10-minute “God and the Devil Meet for a Business Lunch” as part of their reading series on March 28.
Here are some photos from the evening, or you find the entire set here.
A full house! The show was in the social hall of Resurrection Catholic Church in Moneta, Virginia.
The devil (Blake Lipscomb) shows up at an out-of-the-way diner, hoping to make a business proposition to the Almighty. Marlene Truesdell is the sassy waitress.
Guess what’s on the menu. Loaves and fishes.
Want to see more?
* Here’s video of a group in Sacramento, California doing the same piece in 2005.
* Here’s audio from when Falcon Radio Theatre in Seattle did the script in 2013.
* Video: “God and the Devil Settle a Contract Dispute”
* Video: “God and the Devil Debate The Issues”
Behind-the-scenes photos from the short film “Unwanted”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Uncategorized, Video on March 20, 2014
Hank Ebert (left) with Gary Reid (the police officer) and Kelly Anglim (the evidence tech) with Charlie and Martha Boswell somewhere under the sheets.
I’m a stage guy, not a film guy. But once a year, Salem filmmaker Hank Ebert and I wind up collaborating on a short film for various local competitions.
In the past, we’ve done:
* “My Kid Could Paint That” for a festival at the Grandin Theatre in 2009
* “Back to the Future” for a Sweded film festival in the 2012 Marginal Arts Festival.
* “The Secret Lives of Goldfish” for the 2013 Bike Shorts Festival (behind-the-scenes photos here.)
This year, Hank and I once again have teamed up to produce a short film for the Bike Shorts Festival, which, as the name implies, is seeking short films about bicycles.
Since the entry deadline hasn’t passed yet, and the film showing isn’t until early May, I won’t give away TOO many details, but below are some photos from our two film shoots on March 1 and March 8. You can find the entire set here.
“Revenge Is Sweet . . . ” to be produced at British festival this summer
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized on March 13, 2014
Just got the word that my one-act “Revenge Is Sweet With a Slight Aftertaste of Irony” will be one of four one-acts produced this summer at a festival in Great Britain. Specifically, by the Congleton Players in Congleton, England in July.
More than 200 scripts were entered.
Here’s the synopsis:
REVENGE IS SWEET WITH A SLIGHT AFTERTASTE OF IRONY
A famous food critic visits a restaurant. The manager wants desperately to please him; the chef wants revenge. Dark comedy and slapstick ensues. Cast: Six — four male, two female. Running time: Fifteen minutes.
Video: “A Spork in the Road” at the Liminal gallery
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Uncategorized, Video on March 10, 2014
The February reading at the Liminal gallery in Roanoke dealt with “intersections.”
For me, that meant my short piece, “A Spork in the Road.”
dwayneyancey 