Surviving the Solo Show Wilderness: Exploring One-Person Performance Processes through the Metaphor of Wilderness Survival
by Josh Hamzehee, Andrea Baldwin, Christopher C. Collins, Eddie Gamboa, Natalie Garcia, Julie-Ann Scott, and Tracy Stephenson Shaffer
» download full text with scripts [pdf]
At the 2019 National Communication Association conference in Baltimore, MD, seven performance studies practitioners came together to create a solo performance survival guide. The theme for the 105th annual convention was "Communication for Survival." Our panel was titled, "Surviving the Solo Show Wilderness: Exploring One-Person Performance Processes through the Metaphor of Wilderness Survival." We hoped dividing the solo show process into seven malleable steps might help a performer's journey become less about surviving and more about thriving. At the time of our submission, our academic positions ranged from undergraduate student to full professor, and we have each guided, taken, and/or are currently undergoing the one-person expedition. We present this multi-vocal and multi-modal artifact as both a souvenir of that conference panel and as a solo production starter-kit for those traversing and preparing for the wonderful wilderness that is one-person performance.
To assist solo practitioners in navigating the one-person show wilderness, we borrowed a seven-step structure from Dolly Garza's 1993 Alaskan Marine Safety Education Association manual, "Outdoor Survival Training for Alaskan Youth." This safety curriculum has been used by instructors to teach young people preparation for circumstances that occur when exploring adventures, nature, and the unknown. Garza's wilderness instruction manual was created to be a positive thinking first-aid kit for navigating high-stress and emergency situations. Garza writes, "these steps were developed by survival instructors who spent years asking survivors what they did that allowed them to survive an emergency" (22). Chapter two in Garza's text outlines seven survival steps. Prompted by NCA's "Communication for Survival" theme, we utilized these seven steps of recognition, inventory, shelter, signals, play, food, and water as malleable metaphors for key stages in the often-stressful solo performance expedition. Experience is the best instructor, and these metaphors provided us the opportunity to shed light on questions and memories that resonated with/in our solo journeys. The written texts and audio recordings in this artifact are close approximations to the narratives we developed for that conference panel. The variety of styles and experiences reflected in our prompted narratives mimic the diverse possibilities of solo shows. This compiled artifact, however, is not meant to be all-encompassing of solo performance experiences and scholarship; rather, we offer our insights as an approachable starting point to help solo practitioners conceptualize their journeys.
Each solo performance is unique in shape and scope and goals and needs. If solo practitioners "embrace the ambiguity of nomadic practice" (Parrott 312), then a useful metaphor must allow for situational fluidity and for a diversity of solo styles to be conceptualized. As keenly noted in E. Patrick Johnson's "From Page to Stage: The Making of Sweet Tea," in contrast to ensemble productions, each solo show presents unique obstacles and reflexive dilemmas. Specifically, since the solo practitioner is often be the writer, performer, and director, they "are the one who has to deal with the consequences of [their] actions within that show" (Pinney 188). In addition to personal and political trepidations broached by Craig Gingrich-Philbrook in "The Personal and Political in Solo Performance: Editor's Introduction," there are embedded practical considerations solo practitioners must navigate. These concerns include (and are not limited to) feelings of isolation, mis-recognition of resources and needs, difficulty in organizing multiple production roles and generating support, the ethical and careful embodiment of triggering material, and unforeseen obstacles (like, for example, a worldwide pandemic!) that baffle even seasoned soloists. Breaking the solo performance process into Garza's seven steps is one way to embrace the adventure and prepare for the unknown.
Each author in this solo show first-aid kit also offers an audio recording of their assigned wilderness survival step. Since each piece was developed to be heard, we recommend listening while reading. Garza writes, "the first and most important step" to making the most of an unknown experience is recognizing the totality of the journey, and articulating the stakes inherent to the project (22). The first step of solo performance survival, recognition, is the honest acknowledgement of production goals, vision, scope, ethics, tensions, risks, and potential challenges. Christopher C. Collins expands on this prompt in "An Incantation from the Wilderness." The second step, inventory, addresses the resources available and potential show needs, ranging from skills, methodology, environment, self-reflexivity, technology, production roles, crew needs, checklists and calendars, and what still needs knowing. This step addresses the inquiry, "what do I have, what should I do?" (23). Tracy Stephenson Shaffer expands on this prompt in "The Nuts and Bolts of Inventory." The third step, shelter, locates the spaces, people, and dressings that help shape, support, and provide refuge for the solo practitioner. Shelter is "anything that protects you" (24). Andrea Baldwin expands on this prompt in "Step 3: Seeking Shelter in Solo Performance (A Handout)." The fourth step, signals, indicates strategies employed to reach audiences and others the show might benefit, including members of the discipline, a department, and the local community, as well as those cast in crew roles. "Hey! I need help over here!" (30). Josh Hamzehee expands on this prompt in "Help! There is a Bear in the Theatre!" Play, the fifth step, refers to the engagement, experimentation, evolution, adjustments, successes, and struggles of the rehearsal process. Integral to play is maintaining "a positive mental attitude" (35). Julie-Ann Scott expands on this prompt in "The Playful Body in Repetition." Step six, food, is the dialogic engagement of performer sharing knowledge with an audience. For a solo performer, "different types of foods are available" (36). Natalie Garcia expands on this prompt in "Performance Á La Carte." Water, our seventh step, stands in for the afterlife of the solo performance; how it lasts through research, travel, artifacts, gratitude, in novel ways, and memory. Garza writes, "we can only live a few days without water" (31). Eddie Gamboa expands on this prompt in "After the Flood."
Step 1: Recognition
The first step, recognition, is the honest acknowledgement of production goals, vision, scope, ethics, tensions, risks, and potential challenges. Christopher C. Collins expands on recognition: "The decision to embark on the journey of solo performance is often difficult to define. Performers face many questions that can impede or delay the choice to start the solo show process. The following text addresses how performers recognize the call to performance and how such a call may arise through symbolic associations and embodied knowledge. Recognition is often individual and ephemeral; therefore, I use a poetic form to address these moments' ambiguity and complex nature. The act of recognition exists in the relationship between consciousness, unconsciousness, and somatic experiences. When all three align, they present the Kairos of when performance calls."
"An Incantation from the Wilderness" by Christopher C. Collins [runtime: 05:43]
Step 2: Inventory
The second step, inventory, addresses the resources available and potential show needs, ranging from skills, methodology, environment, technology, production roles, crew needs, checklists and calendars, and what still needs knowing. Tracy Stephenson Shaffer expands on inventory: "Once one knows that 'what' and 'why' they want to perform, they should ask themselves 'how' they will do it. My nuts and bolts discussion starts at opening night and moves backward to the production meeting before the very first rehearsal. How does one get from point A to point B? From research to devising to building a support system of crew members and trusted colleagues, I offer a few tips about taking stock of one's resources and the process of making the performance happen."
"The Nuts and Bolts of Inventory" by Tracy Stephenson Shaffer [runtime: 05:01]
Step 3: Shelter
The third step, shelter, locates the spaces, people, and dressings that help shape, support, and provide refuge for the solo practitioner. Andrea Baldwin expands on shelter: "When creating solo performance, the journey is long from quietly writing alone, to speaking it aloud, and to finally staging it and bringing it to life. How do you negotiate the when and where to seek the space to work and show versus quietly tweaking and creating? While this question varies from artist to artist, the choice to seek and find space for rehearsing and for performing comes from the liminal space of preparation."
"Step 3: Seeking Shelter in Solo Performance (A Handout)" by Andrea Baldwin [runtime: 05:33]
Step 4: Signals
The fourth step, signals, indicate the strategies employed to reach audiences and others the show might benefit, including members of the discipline, a department, and the local community, as well as those cast in crew roles. Josh Hamzehee expands on signals: "Gathering audiences to attend a solo show can be difficult because there are often less people associated with the production. During Burnt City: A Dystopian Bilingual One-Persian Show, I wanted to reach Iranians in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As you might guess, Persians are not the most dense demographic in "the Red Stick." Prompted by Step 4: Signals, I explore how I approached this objective, and why sending signals to select audiences should be about more than just getting bodies inside the theatre. Questions of reciprocity, rapport, and concept articulation must be considered."
"Help! There is a Bear in the Theatre!" by Josh Hamzehee [runtime: 06:16]
Step 5: Play
Play, the fifth step, refers to the engagement, experimentation, evolution, adjustments, successes, and struggles of the rehearsal process. Julie-Ann Scott expands on shelter: "The final script is never really final. Performance is never stagnant. Embodying the words after they were transferred to the page is messy, beautiful and empowering, but so messy. How long the show is depends on the venue, the audience, the goals of that particular performance exchange. So, it keeps changing. It changes with a trusted friend's feedback. From an audience's unexpected response. The feedback of a formal director (if someone is comfortable changing a show you wrote and will perform)—the director is such a warm, supportive, yet careful relationship. Helping realize 'my show.' Memorizing words on a page . . . or maybe just 'knowing it.' That's another conversation. Should I try it another way than I intended when I wrote it. Maybe. It can become something different than I meant it to. The rehearsal process of the solo show isn't solo."
"The Playful Body in Repetition" by Julie-Ann Scott [runtime: 05:00]
Step 6: Food
Step six, food, is the dialogic engagement of performer sharing knowledge with an audience. Natalie Garcia expands on food: "The audience plays an integral role in performance. They are the fuel performers need to push through and endure. Audiencing a solo show is a unique process given that there are no ensemble members for the performer to "feed" off of. With this, the performer must decide what role they want their audience to play. Will the performance be interactive? If so, how do you gain consent from the audience members? How do you push through when they are not reacting as anticipated?"
"Performance Á La Carte" by Natalie Garcia [runtime: 03:11]
Step 7: Water
Water, the seventh step, stands in for the afterlife of the solo performance; how it lasts through research, travel, artifacts, gratitude, in novel ways, and memory. Eddie Gamboa expands on water: "Sidestepping the presentism often associated with performance, the traces of a show produce an afterlife that compels further performances that require attention. While the end of a run offers a definitive temporal distinction, it fails to account for the repetition, adaptation, examination, and abandonment inherent to performance practice—in other words, we imagine the performance as product rather than a still active process. Through my own experience in restaging solo performance after the loss of a show (and in the face of the loss of a colleague), I discuss how to nourish a show in its aftermath, and how the aftermath of a show is a necessary nourishment for the performer and their varied collaborators/audiences."
"After the Flood" by Eddie Gamboa [runtime: 04:48]
Works Cited
Bogart, Anne. What's the Story: Essays about Art, Theater and Storytelling. New York, Routledge, 2014.
Garza, Dolly. Outdoor Survival Training for Alaska's Youth: Instructor Manual. Alaska Sea Grant Program, 1994.
Johnson, E. Patrick. "From Page to Stage: The Making of Sweet Tea." Text & Performance Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 3, 2017, pp. 248-253.
Gingrich-Philbrook, Craig. "The Personal and Political in Solo Performance: Editor's Introduction." Text & Performance Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 1, 2000, pp. 7-10.
Parrott, Charles. "Becoming A Happily Married Man." Text & Performance Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 3, 2020, pp. 308-314.
Pinney, Amy. "Between a Director and a Cast of One: A Beginning Aesthetic." Theatre Topics, vol. 16, no. 2, 2006, pp. 183-191.
Josh Hamzehee is the Production Coordinator for University of Northern Iowa's Interpreters Theatre. He is a performance scholar↔practitioner who engages in critical ethnographic methods, spoken-word roots, and remixed performance techniques. Recent projects include Burnt City, Baton Rouge SLAM!: An Obituary for Summer 2016, and The Deported: A Reality Show!
Andrea Baldwin is a Lecturer at the University of Houston—Clear Lake. Her research explores pedagogical experiences in spaces outside of the classroom and genealogical embodied mentoring in the academy. She has a background in Performance Studies with an interest in storytelling, adaptation, and rhetoric.
Christopher C. Collins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Missouri State University. He received his doctorate in performance studies from Southern Illinois University. His current research examines the intersections of posthumanism and environmental communication.
Eddie Gamboa is an Instructor of Communication and the Director of Forensics at Governors State University. Their work has appeared in Text and Performance Quarterly, Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, and the upcoming anthology Queer Nightlife.
Natalie Garcia received her B.S. in Environmental Management from the University of Houston—Clear Lake. As an undergraduate, she wrote and performed in a solo show about Ecofeminism and the disconnect between humans and nature. Currently, she is an MA candidate at Louisiana State University in the Department of Communication Studies. Her research is primarily focused on Environmental Performance and Queer Theory.
Julie-Ann Scott is a Professor of Communication and Performance Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she directs UNCW Performance Studies. Her research and creative work focus on personal narratives of marginalized embodiment, performance ethnography, and performance pedagogy. Her book, Embodied Performance as Applied Research, Art and Pedagogy is published with Palgrave MacMillan.
Tracy Stephenson Shaffer (Chair and Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Louisiana State University) is a scholar/artist who produces research on the stage and on the page. Along with the creation/direction of almost twenty original performances, her research has appeared in outlets such as Text and Performance Quarterly, Global Performance Studies, and Theatre Annual.
