Posts Tagged royalty-free play
Review of ‘Moon Over Manitoba’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Reviews, Uncategorized on May 30, 2020
New York playwright Doug DeVita has posted an wonderful review of my play MOON OVER MANITOBA on the New Play Exchange:
“Ah, the innocent ballsiness of youth! It stands the two teen girls in this high-stakes road trip in good stead, and gives us a sometimes charming, sometimes harrowing ride throughout. The relationship between the girls is particularly well-drawn, and draws us into their story effortlessly, leaving us rooting for them all the way. Tense and touching, this is a wonderful script.”
Here’s a previous review of the script.
MOON OVER MANITOBA
A play about immigration, with a cast of two teen-age girls. Veronica is a teenager from Canada, whose father’s job has taken the family to Texas. She’s homesick for Manitoba. She meets Isabella, who turns out to have arrived recently, and illegally, from Honduras after a harrowing trip from Central America. The two girls know no one else and strike up a tentative friendship. When Isabella’s cousin, with whom she’s living, is arrested by immigration agents, Isabella flees to Veronica’s house. Veronica impetuously decides they should run away to Canada, which Veronica is sure will accept Isabella. That’s Act 1. Act 2 is their trip north, which is full of danger and unexpected developments. Cast: Two teenage girls, one Latina.
* Semi-finalist, New American Voices Playwriting Festival, The Landing Theatre, Houston, 2020.
Video: Reading of ‘Red Moon Rising in the East’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in Productions, Uncategorized, Video on May 15, 2020
Little Theatre of Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia hosted a Zoom reading of my play RED MOON RISING IN THE EAST on May 13, 2020. This is a one-man play based on the story of Sergei Korolev, the father of the Soviet space program. He was a force of nature who almost single-handedly willed the Soviets into space, battling both the odds and his own government. However, his name was a state secret in the Soviet Union so he’s still little-known in the West, even though all the big firsts — the first satellite, the first satellite to the moon, the first man in space, the first woman in space — were all his doing. Bill Armstrong performed this role in 2009 at 40th Street Stage in Norfolk, then again in 2010 at The Venue in Norfolk. Here he is again.
Here’s a link to previous productions of this show.
Bonus: At the end of this video is a Q&A with with actor and playwright.
Another review for ‘The Debate At Bosworth Field’
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews on August 24, 2019
My 10-minute play THE DEBATE AT BOSWORTH FIELD just got a very nice review on the New Play Exchange:
“I had the pleasure of seeing this play performed three times at a recent festival in Manchester England where my play was also being produced. This hilarious, absurdist play had the English audience laughing non-stop. I love these kind of plays that take literary characters out of context. We see Richard the III with new eyes while enjoying the familiarity of his history. Mr. Yancey skillfully builds the comedy to the perfect final line.”
— Arianna Rose
‘Waiting on the 10:15’ in Lansing, Michigan
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Photos, Productions, Uncategorized on August 20, 2019
Quinn Thomas Kelly and Ny’kieria Blocker. Not sure which one is Melissa and which one is Paige. All photos courtesy of Jeff Croff.
The undertaker arrives to supervise.
Eight times in the past 12 years, I’ve been a writer in the Overnight Sensations 24-hour play festival in Roanoke that Hollins University and Mill Mountain Theatre produce each summer. A few weeks ago, I saw where Ixion Ensemble in Lansing, Michigan was holding a 24-hour play festival and were looking for writers. I emailed to apply, citing my Overnight Sensations experience. They said thanks, but we’re already full. OK, no problem, moving on. Then last week they emailed me to say, oh, someone got sick and had to drop out, still available? I was. So over the weekend I took part in my first 24-hour play festival remotely.
About 10:30 Friday night I was emailed the prompts:
-Genre: Western
-Use at least one of these names: Chad, Melissa or Paige
-Words to use: Art, cheesemaking, urban and beat
Dialogue: “You can’t make me…” Or “It is if the cheese is talking”
Only real guidelines: ten minutes and you only have three actors.
By Saturday morning I had written and emailed in WAITING ON THE 10:15. I was under the impression all the teams were two women and one man, so I wrote it with two female gunfighters. Turns out my cast — randomly assigned — was two men and one woman so I’m guessing one of the guys played “Melissa.”
WAITING ON THE 10:15
Two female gunfighters appear to be ready to square off against one another in the streets of an old western town. They’re waiting on the undertaker to pronounce when it’s high noon – timed to the arrival of the 10:15 train, which is always late. We eventually learn, though, they were not gunfighters at all, but makers of cheese. Their batch of Swiss cheese hasn’t come out well, so they’re about to shoot holes in it. Cast: Three – two women, one man.
* Produced by Ixion Ensemble, Lansing, Michigan, Aug. 18, 2019, as part of a 24-hour play festival.
“A Woman’s Word Versus the Machine” wins award at Subversive Theatre
Posted by Dwayne Yancey in News, Productions, Reviews, Uncategorized on October 18, 2013
I’ve just learned that my short piece “A Woman’s Word Versus the Machine” won the Plebian’s Choice Award at the Subversive Theatre in Buffalo, N.Y. this summer.
Audience members voted each night on their favorites and in the end, mine emerged as the winner for the “alpha” night. (The theatre had two different shows, which alternated.) Mine was described as “a very well written little gem.”
Here’s my synopsis of the piece:
A WOMAN’S WORD VERSUS A MACHINE
A dark, serious piece about rape. A woman alleges she was assaulted by her household robot. But the company claims it was not a fault of product design. Cast: Two — one male, one female. Running time: Five minutes.
• Staged reading at No Shame Theatre, Roanoke, Va., spring 2012.
(I had a previous post about other work I’ve had at Subversive here.)
This is the second time this year one of my works has been voted an audience favorite. In June, my 10-minute script “Follow The Money: A Modern-Day Fairy Tale” was voted the audience choice at the New Voice Theatre Festival in Charles Town, West Virginia.
Suffice it to say this dark piece about a woman raped by a robot is very different from a frothy little piece about the tooth fairy.
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