Written and performed by a credit that suggests the profound artistic commitment of the solo performer to the creation of a project. Yet one-person shows are rarely individual efforts, being instead a collaborative voyage between a writer-performer and a host of people from theatre professionals to creative muses to friendly well-wishers.
No one knows this better than Michael Kearns, whose career, wearing various hats, is distinguished by his involvement in dozens of top-notch one-person shows, and in The Solo Performer's Journey, he takes you step by step into the lifespan of a solo show, from its genesis through a highly successful theatrical run. Part personal memoir and part practical manual, The Solo Performer's Journey chronicles how Kearns collaborated with Precious Chong for two years to bring her vivid artistic vision to life in the various incarnations of The Porcelain Penelope Show. From the first phone calls to Chong's final curtain calls, Kearns gives you a front-row seat to watch the creative and theatrical processes at work. At the same time he uses the backdrop of the evolving show to illustrate important solo techniques, define the art of collaboration, share experience-honed wisdom, and pose questions that promote professional and artistic reflection.
Whether you're an actor, writer, dramaturg, or director who wants to better understand the dynamics of the one-person show or join the legion of solo folk, The Solo Performer's Journey is the perfect companion for what promises to be an expedition inside your artistic self.
About the Author: Michael Kearns has been a fixture in the world of art and politics for more than three decades, combining a mainstream career in film and television with a prolific theatrical resume that includes writing, acting, directing, and producing. His intimate connection to the two plays he chronicles in emotional detail in The Drama of AIDS began in the mid-eighties. Wearing various artistic hats, Michael contributed to the premieres of Robert Chesley's Jerker and James Carroll Pickett's Dream Man. And more than twenty years later, he remains closely involved with them. Solo performance has also been a defining feature of his career, and he has been involved with dozens of one-person shows, including many that he wrote and performed such as intimacies, Rock, Attachments, and Make Love Not War. He is also the author of several books with Heinemann, including T-Cells & Sympathy, Acting = Life (both nominated for Lambda Awards), Getting Your Solo Act Together, Life Expectancies, and The Solo Performer's Journey.
