Going It Alone: Writing, Performing, and Marketing Your Own One-Person Show

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Solo plays have been around for a long time. Historians tell us the English actor Samuel Foote delighted London audiences in the middle of the 18th century with his show “The Diversions of the Morning.” In 19th-century America, particularly after the expansion of the railways, platform performances enjoyed considerable success with patrons who were prejudiced against the perceived low morals of conventional theater. (Lectures and solo readings of literature were thought to be genteel and dignified areas of entertainment, while popular theater, in some minds, was associated with prostitution and lasciviousness.)

Perhaps the greatest solo performer of the 19th century on both sides of the Atlantic was the novelist Charles Dickens, who in his youth had aspired to be an actor. He delighted audiences with his highly dramatic (and, some would say, histrionic) readings from his own novels.

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• Attention: The solo performance entails a single person telling a story to their audience. While this type of individual attention can be nerve-racking, it also provides performers with their audience’s full consideration.  
• Money: The performer who puts on a one-person play earns all the money the show rakes in instead of needing to split it up among multiple people. It is not surprising, then, that theater and college administrators and festival directors appreciate one-person plays, often with very minimal sets and props, when compared with the sometimes astronomical production costs of more conventional productions of plays. The one-person show also tends to be more flexible and can play a wider range of venues. And, because many one-person shows are about historical or literary figures, they often appeal to schools and colleges—many of which have halls with the necessary technical facilities.
• Autonomy: Beginning performers sometimes turn to the form to reduce the sense of powerlessness and frustration that comes from waiting for the telephone to ring. The solo performance allows them to assert themselves and take over the reins of their careers, rather than passively waiting for their agents to connect them to work. Solo performances also give actors a far greater degree of artistic control over their work and allow them to pursue their careers without having to depend upon other actors.
• The challenge: For some others, performing alone is the ultimate challenge—can they, alone, hold an audience for an entire evening?—and the experience helps satisfy their egos. When McCowen was asked what motivated him to attempt a one-person show, he immediately answered, “Vanity.” Roy Dotrice, who scored an enormous success with “Brief Lives,” has admitted of acting solo, “There’s nothing I know more satisfying.”
• Connecting with the audience: The one-person show also allows some to cash in on their celebrity status, and lets members of the public indulge their hunger for contact with such people. The late Quentin Crisp created a one-man show in the mid-1970s, building on the publicity he received from the film “The Naked Civil Servant,” and toured it literally up to the week of his death at the age of 90. 
• Showing off unique skills: Many performers treat one-person shows as an opportunity to show off their particular talents in a very personal way. Miriam Margolyes created a show called “Dickens’ Women” in which she played a wide variety of the novelist’s female creations. Sir Ian McKellen toured all over the world, including Broadway, in his one-man show “Acting Shakespeare,” a highly personal selection of pieces that he performed and discussed with his audiences. Pat Carroll, who played Gertrude Stein, admitted that she had “built a role for myself at exactly the right time.” Anthony Sparks says that his one-person show, “Ghetto Punch,” launched his TV career. 
• Activism: Other performers and writers of one-person shows have used them as a unique opportunity to talk about issues of importance to them.

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“The Vagina Monologues” Courtesy HBO

One-person shows generally fall into one of three categories: biographical shows that tell the audience about the life of a particular person; autobiographical plays where performers discuss their own lives; and shows where a performer plays a variety of roles in a series of related or unrelated vignettes, sometimes seeking to dramatize a story or event.

Biographical

The biographical one-person show is probably the most popular form. The most important thing for the performers is to find a subject they feel passionate about—and one who will interest an audience. Be advised, the audience will be attracted to the show by one of two things: the reputation of the performer or the name of the subject. In a perfect world the show will have both. When Sir John Gielgud decided to appear in “The Seven Ages of Man,” a compilation of some of Shakespeare’s best-known speeches, the show was an immediate commercial success.

If you are playing a historical character, your job as an actor is not to impersonate the subject, but rather to give the audience a three-dimensional portrait and the essence of the person. While physical resemblance and makeup will help, you have to make the person breathe just as you would any fictional character you might play. It is important to show the historical figure’s weaknesses in creating a rounded portrait. A person’s foibles and weaknesses make them more vulnerable and human and thus easier for your audience to relate to. 

Autobiographical

During the autobiographical one-person show, performers share about their own life with the audience, while avoiding it feeling overly confessional. As Greg Walloch said, “Instead of the audience worrying about me, it is my job as the performer to take care of my audience.”

Ask yourself if what you have to say is theatrical. It may be that your experiences belong in an article or book, rather than onstage. This is where a good director will help guide you. It may be that while a part of your story is interesting and important to you, it doesn’t belong in your solo stage show. That said, many actors have mined their personal lives and created terrific one-person shows that are truly theatrical. 

This may be growing up in a cult, such as Deborah Swisher’s “Hundreds of Sisters and One Big Brother”; experiencing health issues, as in Walloch’s “White Disabled Talent” and Susan Miller’s “My Left Breast”; stories of sexuality, such as David Drake’s “The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me” and Brian Belovitch’s “Boys Don’t Wear Lipstick”; or shows focused on working lives, such as Jono Mainelli’s “Sixteen Bars” and Mark Setlock’s “Fully Committed.” 

The best solo shows are those written with passion; the story simply has to be told. In “Glory Box,” Tim Miller highlighted the struggle for immigration rights for gay Americans and their partners. Eve Ensler’s iconic, highly political show “The Vagina Monologues” was based upon her interviews with 200 women. 

Multiple roles

Some use one-person shows to tell a story. Patrick Stewart converted Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” into a solo piece that he performed on Broadway. Many of the most successful solo performers such as Celeste Lecesne (“Word of Mouth,” “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey”), Eric Bogosian (“Talk Radio,” “The Worst of Eric Bogosian”), and John Leguizamo (“Freak,” “Spic O-Rama,” “Latin History for Morons”) go seamlessly from one character to another, bringing the story to life and offering greater opportunity for vocal variety.

“Freak” Courtesy Mubi

• Establish set and setting: In creating a solo piece, whether it is autobiographical, a portrait of a real person, or a dramatization of a story, similar rules apply. First, know where you are in time in the story and who your audience is. Eileen Atkins’ “A Room of One’s Own,” about Virginia Woolf, establishes her audience members as students in a lecture theater. Other solo performers treat their audience as if they were anything from confidantes to radio show listeners.
• Only include the good stuff: One-person shows are typically a collection of anecdotes joined (artfully, one hopes) with segues so that the performance appears seamless. Some people feel they must follow the subject’s life chronologically, but that’s unnecessary—and can even be boring.
• Surprise your audience: The element of surprise will help. Who did your character meet? Did they take an unusual path in life? How can you use surprising information to entice your audience? 
• Perfect your monologue: Read books such as “Creating Your Own Monologue” by Glenn Alterman to learn more about how to write, revise, and perform a compelling monologue. 
• Create a rhythm: Watch other one-person shows to see how they create a rhythm. Sparks said of writing “Ghetto Punch”: “For research I looked at and read a bunch of people’s solo shows and I thought, ‘If I were to write a show, what would it be about?’ I knew what thoughts were rambling around in my noggin, and I just sat down to try to write what I might like to see. I would get an idea for something, an image, a line of dialogue, write it down and then I’d finish it later, either in a blaze of inspiration or by methodically, laboriously at times, shaping it and, well, ‘working’ on it. Rhythm was and is very important to me. I’m still working on it.”

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• Practice the full piece: During the writing process, many performers try out pieces of their shows at open-mic nights or in front of small groups of friends. Although that may provide feedback as to which parts work and which don’t, it ultimately becomes necessary to perform the piece in its entirety. 
• Avoid self-indulgence: The consensus of many solo performers is that self-indulgence is one of the greatest dangers in one-person shows. A good director—who will also act as an editor—will help you to avoid it. An outside pair of eyes can help you discover what works and what doesn’t. 
• Collaborate: It is also important to find someone with whom you can work well. In a normal theatrical production with a cast of five or six, only a percentage of constructive criticism will be directed at you—but when you are both solo-performer and writer all the notes come to you.
• Keep it simple: Most solo performers tour their work to as many venues as they can, so it’s important to keep the show as technically simple as possible and not rely too much on special sound or lighting effects that may not be available on the road. It is also important to make sure that you are very secure in your show, so it doesn’t matter whether you are playing to a venue that seats 50 or 500.
• Relax: It is important to be kind to yourself during the rehearsal process. Most people find that three hours is the maximum useful rehearsal period, simply because of fatigue. Writing and rehearsing a show is hard work, so delegate as much as possible. There is little point putting yourself through the hard work of creating and mounting a solo show if you drive yourself into the ground doing it and your performance suffers as a result.

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The solo performer can create a wonderful work that is perfect in every detail, yet it doesn’t have a life without bookings and an audience. 

• Spread the word: Tell your friends, family, and social media followers about your upcoming show. Post flyers around town and at local theaters. Make sure that you get in all the free listings and that you have invited every drama critic you can think of. While it may be optimistic to expect to get The New York Times to come along in a week when there are few openings, it may be possible to get one of the other publications to see you—and the more people who attend your first performance, the better. While you are almost certainly going to lose money in the first run of your show, if you get some good reviews, video clips, and photos, you are well on the way to making it as a solo performer. 
• Reach out: Walloch suggests creating a presentation pack with reviews, images, and video to send out with spec emails to potential venues. Like an audition piece, make the five to seven minutes you tape so compelling that the venue reviewing the piece feels they have to book you!
• Hire a professional: Given that most solo performers are working with very limited budgets, it is important that every dollar spent on publicity is well spent. If you can afford it, get a professional publicist; they aren’t cheap, but they can open doors.

“Fleabag” Credit: Matt Humphrey

• “A Girl Is a Half Formed Thing,” Eimear McBride (adapted by Annie Ryan)
• “Defending the Caveman,” Rob Becker
• “Every Brilliant Thing,” Duncan MacMillan
• “Fleabag,” Phoebe Waller-Bridge
• “Freak,” John Leguizamo 
• “Gray’s Anatomy,” Spalding Gray
• “I Am My Own Wife,” Doug Wright (performed by Jefferson Mays)
• “Satchmo at the Waldorf,” Terry Teachout
• “The Vagina Monologues,” Eve Ensler
• “The Year of Magical Thinking,” Joan Didion
• “Thom Pain (based on nothing),” Will Eno