I have two plays about Richard III; Shakespeare only had one
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Uncategorized on February 4, 2013
Portrait of Richard III of England, painted c. 1520 (approximate date from tree-rings on panel), after a lost original, for the Paston family, owned by the Society of Antiquaries, London, since 1828. From Wikipedia Commons.
You can file this under “shameless self-promotion.”
The big news of the day, at least for some of us, is that announcement that the skeleton exhumed from under a car park in Leicester, Great Britain really is that of the infamous King Richard III, whose death at the Battle of Bosworth ended the War of the Roses in 1485 and gave rise to Shakespeare’s great play.
Shakespeare only had one play about Richard, though.
I have two!
Richard III has always been one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, and I have a sub-genre of Shakespearean riffs. My two attempts to improve on The Bard, or at least imitate him, are:
* “The Making of the King, 1483-1485,” a political thriller with pollsters and campaign operatives (and apologies to Theodore White’s great series of “The Making of the President” books.)
* “This Sun of York” is a newspaper drama, of sorts. Instead of a war for the crown, it envisions two branches of the same family fighting for control of the family newspaper, with Richard as the lawyer for the victorious Yorks. Except now, with the paper safely in Yorkist hands, he’s bored — and plots his way to the publisher’s office. I’m rather proud of the wordplay that turned “this son of York” into “this Sun of York.” I’m also rather pleased with this: Instead of poor George drowning in a butt of malmsey (a wine cask, of sorts), an ink barrel in the pressroom does the job just as well.
Neither has been produced. However, “The Making of the King” was a finalist in 2004 in the Peterson Playwriting Contest at Catawba College in North Carolina and two scenes from it were later workshopped in a public performance by Another Chicago Theatre in November 2004 in their “Last Play Standing” competition.
And might I add: Both are available royalty-free (as are all my unpublished scripts). I like to think both of them would be suitable for schools (or community theatres) who want to do Shakespeare, but might find the original too daunting. You can find a more detailed synopsis and cast requirements for each here. (Keep in mind most Shakespearean performances include lots of doubling and tripling; you can too.)
Interested? Inquire within!
Seattle radio station produces two of my scripts as radio plays
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Radio plays, Uncategorized on February 2, 2013
Caitlin Bancroft, Dave Matsui and Walter Lutsch of Falcon Radio Theatre in Seattle. They were the cast. Photo courtesy Falcon Radio Theatre.
A Seattle Internet radio station produced two of my scripts on January 31 in a radio theatre format.
KSPU — kspu.org — is affiliated with Seattle Pacific University. Each Thursday, the station produces Falcon Radio Theatre.
The folks behind the show came across my site, contacted me, and eventually settled on “Occupations,” a dark one-act about three siblings who each are trying to hide their true jobs from one another (mercenary, prostitute, thief), and “The Secret Lives of Goldfish: The Escape,” a light, bright five-minute piece.
I listened in on my home computer and, after fumbling a bit over which software to use, had the broadcast coming in loud and clear, all the way from Puget Sound to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Based on what the producers have told me, it sounds like there’s a good chance they’ll be producing some additional scripts of mine in the future.
Photos from “Deep Into October” at New York benefit
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on January 14, 2013
Mickey Ryan in Dwayne Yancey’s DEEP INTO OCTOBER directed by Rose Bonczek. photo by Faye Ellman. — at Cherry Lane Theatre.
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In December, two of my short baseball pieces were performed at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City in a benefit for Hurricane Sandy victims in The Rockaways section of Brooklyn.
Here are photos from one of those pieces, “Deep Into October.”
Mickey Ryan reprised his role from when this piece was originally performed in the Gone in 60 Seconds Festival in New York in 2011. You can find video of that performance here.
And here’s another photo of Mickey: Read the rest of this entry »
Video: Staged reading of “Klaus” by Hollins Playwright’s Lab
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Productions, Uncategorized, Video on December 18, 2012
“Klaus” is my Christmas play about the origin of Santa Claus. There’s no standard myth on where the Jolly Old Elf came from, so I invented one. In my telling, his origin dates to Great Britain in the 1740s, at a time of political unrest. The German-born Hanoverian kings (George II, in this case) were on the throne, and many Germans were coming into the country to seek their fortune. This kindled talk of rebellion among those who still believed the ousted House of Stuart was the rightful royal family.
In “Klaus,” a debt-ridden English college imports a German professor of natural philosophy (physics, we call it now) in hopes of currying favor with the king, and perhaps getting a royal bequest or two. Professor Klaus turns out to be an eccentric sort, dabbling in strange experiments with time travel.
By the show’s end, he has turned into the Santa Claus we know today, and everything about him is explained — the red suit, the reindeer, the love of milk and cookies, his residence at the North Pole, even Mrs. Claus.
“Klaus” was supposed to be the Christmas show at Studio Roanoke, a black box theatre in Roanoke, Va., specializing in new works. Alas, it closed in mid-summer. Fortunately, the Hollins Playwright’s Lab picked up the show — not for a full production but at least for a very well-rehearsed staged reading. Director Cheryl Snodgrass came in from Chicago to oversee things and we had an all-star cast for the reading on December 16. We also had a fantastic crowd; program director Todd Ristau said it was four times larger than had shown up for any previous reading in the series.
I had some trouble with the video camera. The video of act 1 (above) cuts off the introductory remarks and the first few lines. The video of act 2 (below) didn’t start until after the first scene had concluded. And the audio is poor. But you’ll get the idea. I hope to make a few changes to the script based on this reading and then send it out to publishers and theatres.
Klaus: Brian O’Sullivan
Robert, a college student: Kevin McAlexander
Percy, a college student: Blair Peyton
James, a college student: Will Coleman
Mary the landlady: Martha Boswell
Headmaster: Ross Laguzza
Grinchley, the headmaster’s assistant: Drew Dowdy
Director: Cheryl Snodgrass
Stage manager: Melissa Kennedy
* Background on the show
* Photos from first day of rehearsal
* Photos from second day of rehearsal
* Photos from third day of rehearsal
* Photos from the staged reading of “Klaus”
Photos from staged reading of “Klaus” by Hollins Playwright’s Lab
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on December 18, 2012
Curtain call for “Klaus.” From left: Martha Boswell, Brian O’Sullivan, Kevin McAlexander, Blair Peyton, Will Coleman, Drew Dowdy and Ross Laguzza. Behind them, barely visible, is stage manager Melissa Kennedy who, for purposes of this reading, was on the stage to provide sound effects much like a radio play.
The Hollins Playwright’s Lab put on a staged reading of “Klaus,” my Christmas play about the origin of Santa Claus on December 16, 2012 at the June M. McBroom Theatre at Community High School.
Here are some photos. The one above is from producer Todd Ristau; the back-and-white ones below are from MFA student Chad Runyon:
Photos from Saturday’s rehearsal for “Klaus”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on December 15, 2012
The staged reading of “Klaus,” my Christmas show about the origins of Santa Claus, continues to take shape. .
The reading is Sunday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. at the June M. McBroom Theatre at Community High School in Roanoke, Va.; the reading is put on by the Hollins Playwright’s’ Lab.
Earlier, I posted photos from Thursday’s rehearsal and Friday’s rehearsal. Here are some photos from Saturday’s rehearsal, which emphasis on Brian O’Sullivan, who plays the titular role of Professor Klaus, a mysterious German physics professor who shows up at a failing British college in the 1740s and sets tongues wagging with his strange ideas.
Klaus (played by Brian O’Sullivan) jokes about his girth to the class he’s teaching at a woebegone British college in the 1700s.
Klaus enjoys teaching natural philosophy (as physics was called in those days), but his students — played by Kevin McAlexander, Blair Peyton and Will Coleman — are less amused.
Klaus with his students again. I believe this is the scene where many of them (especially Percy, played by Blair, in the center) have shown up with hangovers. Either that, or it’s a scene in the ale-house where the students spend much of their time.
My short piece on school shootings
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, No Shame Theatre, Photos, Uncategorized on December 15, 2012
That’s me performing my monologue “Chalkboard Scribbled in Blood” at No Shame Theatre on Dec. 14, 2012.
Unlike some writers, I don’t write topical material. When some item in the news inspires me (and it’s quite often), I always try to write the piece in a way that it will work for future occasions.
For instance, after the horrific Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, I wrote the five-minute “Cellphones of the Dead,” which was performed that Friday night at No Shame Theatre in Roanoke, Virginia. It doesn’t reference Virginia Tech and could be staged again — although No Shame producer Todd Ristau said it was so powerful, it shouldn’t be performed too often. In fact, he said it was too powerful (and too much of a downer) to include in that year’s Best of No Shame Theatre.
After Friday’s equally horrific shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, I thought about bringing that piece back for an encore performance at No Shame Theatre. One problem — kindergarten students don’t have cellphones.
So while watching a rehearsal of my Christmas show, “Klaus,” I scribbled out a new piece. And I broke with my practice of having others perform my work — and performed this one myself. I’m no actor, and have never pretended to be, but thought perhaps those who known of my self-imposed prohibition on doing my own works would find the performance even more powerful then.
James Thompson was kind enough to take this photo of me performing the short monologue “Chalkboard Scribbled in Blood.”
Regrettably, it will fit the next time there’s another one of these awful events.
Photos from second rehearsal for staged reading of “Klaus”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on December 15, 2012
Most staged readings only get a few hours rehearsal. For Sunday night’s reading of “Klaus,” my darkly comic show about the origin of Santa Claus, the Hollins Playwright’s Lab has arranged for four days worth of rehearsal — and brought in Chicago director Cheryl Snodgrass to helm the proceedings.
Here are some photos from Friday night’s second rehearsal, on the June M. McBroom Theatre stage at Community High School in Roanoke, Va.:
The show has a strong science fiction element to it. Here, Mary the landlady (Martha Boswell) stares up to discover all her cutlery is stuck to the ceiling. Professor Klaus (Brian O’Sullivan) is overjoyed at the success of his experiment with magnetism.
“Klaus” is heavy on special effects, which are hard to do in a staged reading. So stage manager Melissa Kennedy will be onstage handling many of the sound effects, much like the narrator in a radio play.
Professor Klaus (Brian O’Sullivan) ventures out into the audience to deliver toys to children. Well, you’ll have to imagine the toys. But he’s made them himself in his workshop.
Here’s another special effect you’ll have to imagine. Will Coleman, playing a college student in the 1700s, carries a torch in the climactic scene. That’s one of his fellow classmates, played by Kevin McAlexander, at left, and stage manager Melissa Kennedy in the background.
Director Cheryl Snodgrass.
Rehearsal starts for staged reading of “Klaus”
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on December 14, 2012
Rehearsals started Thursday night for Sunday night’s staged reading of “Klaus,” my darkly comic Christmas play on the origin of Santa Claus that the Hollins Playwright’s Lab is putting on.
Here are some photos:
The headmaster of a failing British college (Ross Laguzza, in black) catches three students (Kevin McAlexander, Blair Peyton and Will Coleman) carousing in an ale-house. Worse, they’re holding their glasses (which you’ll have to imagine for now) over water glasses, a favorite trick of those in the 1700s who believed the true royal family was the ousted House of Stuart, not the reigning House of Hanover. Jacobites, as the Stuart supporters were called, famously toasted “the king over the water.” The show deals with the arrival of a mysterious German professor – Professor Klaus — at a college where support for the German-born Hanovers runs thin, and treason runs deep among the students. The headmaster is trying to stamp out such political sentiments in hopes of currying favor with the king — and perhaps a royal bequest to get the college out of debt. That’s also why he brought in Professor Klaus, although he knows next to nothing about him.
More carousing from our ne’er-do-well students, who harbor strong anti-German feelings — when they’re not busy drinking and skipping class and generally causing trouble. From left, Kevin McAlexander, Blair Peyton and Will Coleman. That’s Ross Laguzza, the headmaster, in the background. This may be the only Christmas show you’ve seen that set partly in an ale-house and includes a reference to a brothel.
Director Cheryl Snodgrass has come in from Chicago to oversee the reading. She specializes in working with new plays.
The show is Sunday, Dec. 16 at the June M. McBroom Theatre at Community High School in downtown Roanoke. It’s also free. More details here. And more photos to come (including, perhaps, one of the actor who plays Klaus!)
Video: “Coyote” at the Liminal gallery in Roanoke, Va.
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Uncategorized, Video on December 12, 2012
The Liminal gallery (housed in the same building as Community High School) in Roanoke, Va., hosts monthly readings. They’re built around a particular theme — usually something on display in the gallery, or something students are studying.
Writers from both the school and community are invited. Most of these are short story writers, but I’ve been going — and reading organizer Cara Modisett has been kind enough to recruit students to perform my work.
For the Nov. 29, 2012 reading, the theme was based on “Children in the Shadow of Conflict: Selected Novels and Cultural Perspectives,” a course being taught at the school.
Hannah Garry performed my piece “Coyote,” about how an illegal immigrant had to pay off a “coyote” — one of the border crossing guides — to get her family across. It was inspired by a newspaper story I read some years ago about how dangerous such crossings can be because many “coyotes” are quite unscrupulous.
Immigration is a theme of another one of my works — the yet unpublished and unproduced full-length script “The Ballad of Alejandro Lopez,” which is currently under consideration at a theatre in New York.
