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Solo performance

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Gerald Dickensin solo performance ofA Christmas Carol

Asolo performance,sometimes referred to as aone-man show,one-woman show,orone-person show,features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including autobiographical creations, comedy acts, novel adaptations, vaudeville, poetry, music and dance.[1]In 1996, Rob Becker'sDefending the Cavemanbecame the longest-running one-person play in the history ofBroadway theatre.

Traits of solo performance

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Solo performance is used to encompass the broad term of a single person performing for an audience. Some key traits of solo performance can include the lack of thefourth walland audience participation or involvement. Solo performance does not need to be written, performed and produced by a single person—a solo performance production may use directors, writers, designers and composers to bring the piece to life on a stage. An example of this collaboration isEric Bogosianin the published version of his showWake Up And Smell the Coffee,byTheatre Communications Group,New York City.[2]

History

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Individuals have told stories in front of other members of their tribe or society for thousands of years, and haveorallypassed down many of today'smythsandlegendsin this manner.[1]The style of performance has developed through generations via theatrical people such asGreekMonologists,the strollingMinstrelsofMedieval Englandand the FrenchTroubadors.

Edgar Allan Poeboth lectured and recited poetry as a platform performer between 1843 and 1849; his performances stand as a paradigm of the solo performance hybrid simply called "the lecture-recital". The reading tours ofCharles Dickensin Britain and America between 1858 and 1870 created a sensation. His American tour of 1867–68 was unparalleled until the arrival of the Beatles in the early 1960s.[3]

Solo performance enjoyed an unprecedented artistic and commercial vogue in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century (John S. Gentile Calls it the golden age of platform performance). Literary historians often associate theVictorian periodwith the highest development of the dramatic monologue as a poetic form. There were several discussions about the importance and distinction between the literary monologue and the performance monologue during the nineteenth century, however, this discussions confirms a continuous interchange between literature and performance, which may at times appear competitive but is more often productive. By the time the United States entered the 20th century, the number and variety of professional solo performances presented throughout the country had grown large.[4]This renaissance of solo performance also created ripples in the larger sense of American theatre; after this "boom" of the one man show had passed, the presentational style seeped into popular theatre productions such asAmadeus,Equus,andEvitaamong others, modeling a combination of representational theatricality and presentational, direct-address style.[5]

By the 1960s, the term performance art became popular and involved any number of performance acts orhappenings,as they were known. Many performers, likeLaurie Anderson,developed through these happenings and are still performing today.

Types and examples of solo performances

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The backgrounds of solo performers over the decades range fromvaudeville,comedy, poetry, music, the visual arts,magic,cabaret,theatre and dance.[1]

Solo performers include Rob Becker,Lily Tomlin,Andy Kaufman,Rod Maxwell,Lord Buckley,Eric Bogosian,Whoopi Goldberg,Jade Esteban Estrada,Eddie Izzard,John Leguizamo,Marga Gomez,Anna Deavere Smith,Bill Hicks,Brother Blue,Lenny Bruce,[1]andMel Blanc.

Several performers have presented solo shows in tribute to famous personalities. The blueprint for this type of show may have been drafted byHal Holbrook,who has performed asMark Twainin his solo show,Mark Twain Tonight,more than 2,000 times since 1954. Examples since that time includeJulie Harrisin theEmily Dickinsonbiography,The Belle of Amherst;Tovah Feldshuhas Golda Meir inGolda's Balcony;Frank GorshinasGeorge BurnsinSay Goodnight Gracie[6]byRupert Holmes;Ed Metzgerin his solo show, performing since 1978,Albert Einstein: The Practical Bohemian;Metzger in another solo performance,Hemingway: On the Edge;Henry FondaasClarence DarrowinDarrow,Ronald RandasHarold ClurmaninLet It Be Art!since 2001 in 25 countries, andTom DuganasSimon WiesenthalinWiesenthal.[7]

A few actors adapted entire novels for the stage includingPatrick Stewartwho played all 43 parts in his version ofA Christmas Carol,which played three times onBroadwayand atThe Old Vicin London; actorGerald Charles Dickensplayed 26 characters in his performances from the same work; andJack Aransonstarred in a solo, 13-character production ofMoby Dick.

Solo performance may be personal, autobiographical creations. This ranges from the intensely confessional but comedic work ofSpalding Gray,the semi-autobiographicalA Bronx TalebyChaz Palminteri,orHolly Hughes' solo pieceWorld without End,in which she attempts to make sense of her relationship with her mother, who had died. Another example of this isIn The Body of the World,written and performed byEve Enslerin 2018.

Still other shows may rally around a central theme, such as pop culture in Pat Hazel'sThe Wonderbread Years,relationships in Robert Dubac'sThe Male Intellect,the history of the New York City transit system inMike Daisey'sInvincible Summer,or fighting the system inPatrick Combs'Man 1, Bank 0.these themes could also be centered around a certain topic such as a political or social issue.[1]Tim Millerexplores the topic of gay culture and society surrounding the LGBTQ community in his production ofMy Queer Body.[8]Karen Finleyexpressed her frustration with the standards women are held to and the issues surrounding them such as rape and abortion in her solo piece titledWe Keep Our Victims Ready.[9]

Sometimes, solo shows are simply traditional plays written by playwrights for a cast of one. Examples:Shirley ValentinebyWilly Russell,I Am My Own WifebyDoug Wright,The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redheadby Robert Hewett andToplessbyMiles Tredinnick.A performer of shows of this type isChris Harris,whose performances in the genre includeKemp's Jig,That's The Way To Do It!,Ally Sloper's Half Holiday,Beemaster,'Arris Music 'AllandA Night at the Pantomime.[10]

There have also been many British comedians who have moved away from performing pure stand-up comedy in recent years. The shows that appear annually at theEdinburgh Festival Fringecan involve stories ofpathosand the use of technological equipment such asprojectors.Examples includeHoward Read,who has performed with the animated characterLittle Howardwhich was projected with the aid of computers andDave Gorman,who has performed several shows described as "documentary comedy".[11]

Solo performance in film

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The first full-length talking film which showed only a single character wasSofi,a 1968 film starringTom Troupe.The film was based on "Diary of a Madman"byGogol.

The 1964 Hindi movieYaadeinalso featured onlySunil Dutt,butNargis Duttmade a few appearancesas a silhouette.However, it still made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for the "fewest actors in a narrative film".[12]

Secret Honor,a 1984 film about Richard Nixon withPhilip Baker Hallas the disgraced President ruminating on his past.

In the 21st century the "solo performance" had a rejuvenation period with films likeLocke,All Is LostandBuried.The characteristics were different from the previous one-character films that were made – mainly by location and style. Sofi and works likeGive 'em Hell, Harry!,were still studio-filmed theater pieces. The 21st-century films were mostly shot on location and were much more stylized with their cinematic expression and camera usage. Most recently films byMarcus Tellshowed ongoing characteristics of one-character films.[13]

R. Parthibanwrote, produced, directed, and was the only actor in the 2019 Tamil movieOththa Seruppu Size 7.

Further examples of solo performances

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See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdeBonney, Jo; Anthology (1 February 1999). "preface xiii". In Jo Bonney (ed.).Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century(1st ed.). Theatre Communications Group; 1st edition. p. 450.ISBN1-55936-155-7.Retrieved28 December2008.
  2. ^Bonney, Jo.Extreme Exposure: an Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century.Theatre Communications Group, 2008.
  3. ^Gentile, John S. (1989).Cast of One. One-Person Shows from the Chautauqua Platform to the Broadway Stage.University of Illinois Press.pp.10-21.ISBN978-0252015847.
  4. ^Gentile, pages 61–64.
  5. ^Gentile, pages 194–195.
  6. ^Ibdb.com
  7. ^Stoudt, Charlotte (26 May 2011)."Theater review: 'Nazi Hunter – Simon Wiesenthal' at Theatre 40".Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^"My Queer Body (1992)".Retrieved2 May2018.
  9. ^Neely, Kent. "Theatre Journal."Theatre Journal,vol. 42, no. 4, 1990, pp. 495–497.JSTOR,JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3207728.
  10. ^"Chris Harris".Chrisharrisproductions.co.uk.
  11. ^Hudson, Ben (2012)."Dead Funny: Posthumous liveness in mediatized stand-up comedy performance".Journal of Media Practice.13(3): 255–267.doi:10.1386/jmpr.13.3.255_1.S2CID191391825.
  12. ^"Sunil Dutt's 'Yaadein': A one-man act film is in the Guinness Book of World Records".
  13. ^"One actor movies".IMDb.
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