write and perform a one-person show

...what i’m working on under this heading right now started out as a piece for an indeterminate # of actors. i’m not really sure when i shifted to thinking of it as a 1-person show. may have just been reading a bit of dialogue between 2 sisters out loud by myself started a certain line of speculation…

as of now, i think i’ll be playing 3 distinct characters over the course of the show: the 2 sisters + their younger brother. figuring out ways to make them all distinct + to make sure the show runs smoothly + that i can keep up the pace is a challenge, but there’s something about having 3 siblings played by 1 actor that i think could be really compelling if i can pull it off—that feeling when you’re arguing with a family member you are really arguing with another part of yourself, so you can never win or lose. these 3 kids all came out of the same somewhat shitty family situation to head in different directions and become what seem like very different people, but by having them all rooted in the central fact of stage-literally having to share 1 body between them…i don’t know. it seems like a sense of reality worth exploring, anyhow.

the challenge i have been focusing on the most recently is the brother. in some ways, he is the character most like me, but he also demands that i do some things that are definitely outside of my comfort bubble—like, say, writing biblical punk songs. i walk around my apartment banging on a tambourine between rounds of banging on the typewriter. haven’t got to the actual screaming yet. working my way up. neighbours beware.

Acting is a wonderful form of expression. You can completely transform yourself into someone who would do and say things that you would never.

As a writer you can create a character that speaks to a serious issue that you would like to address or one that evokes laughter through comedic dialogue.

I would love to do both

So, I have to write a one person show as part of my senior thesis in college. I also want to shop it around to local theatre houses once I graduate. The thing is that I don’t know what I want to write about. I want something bold, drmatic, musical and provocative. At first I thought I should do something along the lines of a musical cabaret act, perhaps impersonating someone. Obviously that would require extensive research and studying of the character in order to be convincing and play the part with conviction. So my search begins now. My goal is to have made a final decision by this Friday. I know, I am so impatient and impulsive….

Here’s to inspiration!

just not to be done Right Now…

so many urgent things to Do!

so i have my comic monologue, and i’ve done it a zillion times, all to small audiences, of course, but now i have to add to it…

also, have to get bigger venues for it…