More Virtues of Going Solo
more reasons to go it alone
Given our social distancing and the forecasted economic future, I want to stay on my soap box, singing the virtues of creating a solo show.
In my last post on this topic, I wrote about how solo shows give us agency, allow us total creative control and freedom and are a cheap conduit to international touring.
This week, I want to touch on three more ways going solo can benefit you as an artist and business person (I believe your art is your business).
3 MORE REASONS TO MAKE A SOLO SHOW
LOW OVERHEAD
You don't need anyone else to make a solo (it's wonderful to have collaborators eventually but), all you need now is your self, a vague idea and commitment to spending time on it. Solos also cheap for theatres to program and for you to tour, especially if you consider a shoestring design while you create.
ROCK YOUR WHEELHOUSE, WORK WITH YOUR WEAKNESSES & CHALLENGE YOURSELF
Because it’s your show, you can do ANYTHING YOU WANT.
Let yourself do the stuff on stage that lets your skillset shine. Audiences love to see performers in pleasure, in the flow state of stuff that comes easy.
Have your own back by working with your weaknesses. For instance, I’m very nervous before I go on stage, so in my early solos, I created openings where the character I was playing was also nervous. I got to begin where I begin and give myself an honest entry into the performance.
When you create your own solo, you have the gift of time to develop a rich connection with your material and to hone completely new skills that are useful to your show.
RAISE YOUR PROFILE
While I don't think this should be your primary reason for making a solo show, it’s a useful byproduct.
Being the only one on stage means that anyone who sees the show will spend an hour+ with YOU. If you want to raise your profile as an artist, in order to make industry contacts and/or build an audience, a solo is serious fast-track way to accomplish this.
My solos have transformed my professional life. As I work on my own financial literacy and beliefs around money, I didn’t want to shy away from sharing this real benefit about making a solo show when you’re freelance artist.
Ready to dive in and make your solo a real thing? Join my Online Solo Show Creation Lab, a 6 week course, that gives you a blueprint for creating a solo show, based on my own methodology .
Read more and sign up, here!