This course invites students to engage in a research-informed, practical exploration of the theatrical genre of solo performance. Structured primarily as a workshop, the approach for this course is hands-on where, most weeks, students will be asked to create/devise their own performance material through the lens of three sub-genres of solo performance: first-person/autobiographical performance, performance art, and solo performance of multiple-characters. Alongside the creation of original work, students will also encounter the work of artists who are significant figures in solo performance. This combination of intellectual and practical research introduces students to the creation of art through the excavation of the personal, the body as subject, the tools of the transformative actor, the creation/familiarity with one’s own artistic practice, and an exploration of what matters to the artist and how that gets translated into solo performance. Through the semester, students will create drafts of 3-4 original works of solo performance, culminating in an invited public showing at the end of the semester.
- Teacher: Alexander Torra