Yazoo, Miss'ssippi
by Overtime Theater

Aug. 15 - Sep. 06
Fridays-Saturdays

In Yazoo, Miss’ssippi Ciampi presents a hilarious group of characters all wrapped up in opening a new factory in the city of Yazoo.  Miss Jo doesn’t like change and doesn’t like her newt costume anymore.  Harley doesn’t like being the mayor.  Alex is just here to do a job - and find out who his real parents are.  Phoebe just wants to love.  And Samantha just wants to love…Alex.  Family lies, broken ties and why won’t those Yazoo - who zoo? - winged newts fly?

Yazoo, Miss’ssippi is the winner of the 2024 Robert J.Pickering/JR Colbeck Award for Playwriting Excellence, the second such award for author Jean Ciampi. The Overtime is extremely excited to present this play for its first full staging.  “I’m really fond of these characters,” Ciampi says, “so I’m really glad the play is in the Overtime’s hands!”

Jean Ciampi is a playwright, humorist and contract writer based in Houston, Texas. Mentored by highly decorated Canadian playwright Sharon Pollock, she wrote her first full-length play, "Potato Gumbo," while living in Saudi Arabia. She won her second Robert J.Pickering/JR Colbeck Award for Playwriting Excellence in 2024 with her latest farce, “Yazoo, Miss’ssippi,” which was a featured script for the 2025 Frank Silvera Writers Workshop. Jean is also a two-time recipient of a Veterans Repertory Theatre Writers Grants, and, for the past two years, she has been a featured playwright for the Greater Conroe Arts Association’s Arts Festival which has produced over a dozen of her short plays. A member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive, she is a founding member of the T43 Playwrights Collective based in New York City and remains active in many aspects of the Houston theatre community. Her work is published through Next Stage Press and available through New Play Exchange.

The play is directed by Rob Barron who is also the current president of the Overtime Theater.  Barron is a San Antonio accountant and professional Santa Claus when not cleaning things at the theater.  “I was excited to get to direct this play,” Barron said, “There are a lot of themes of family that really speak to me here.  Also, it made me laugh so hard the first time I read it that I spit out my drink.  Always a good sign".”

Dedicated to providing original, innovative, and accessible entertainment at an affordable price, The Overtime Theater is a nonprofit organization with the mission of bringing “theater for the people” to the San Antonio community through new and thought-provoking stage productions.

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Yazoo, Miss'ssippi
by Jean Ciampi
Overtime Theater

August 15 to September 6, 2025

Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Thursday, August 28 also at 8 pm and one Sunday matinee on August 25 at 2 pm.

The Overtime Theater is located at 4335 Vance Jackson, Suite 103-104 on the city’s northwest side.

General admission tickets are $20, or $15 for SATCO members, military and students with a valid ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door or online at theovertimetheater.org.

 

[Poster design by Jane Drew]