I dipped in to a book called So You Want to do a Solo Show? Written by Gareth Armstrong and I came across a list of “rules” for any solo performance act which included the following:
- “Distinguish between arrogance and total self-confidence on stage.
- Be vocally assertive without hectoring.
- Be self-deprecatory without sycophancy.
- Use open body language.
- Embrace the whole audience with your eyes.
- Make your audience laugh.
- Move your audience.
- Inform your audience.
- Surprise your audience.
- Never insult your audience’s intelligence.
- Never, ever, risk boring them” (2011, p.10).
Personally, I have issues with this list particularly that Armstrong suggests that it applies to any material. Firstly, within my performance I currently have no intention of ‘embracing the audience with my eyes’, as I am not planning to acknowledge their presence. Secondly, for some of these rules such as “don’t bore them” “use open body language” and so on, this could completely disrupt the affect you are trying to create as a performer. Your intention may well be to bore your audience, or you may use closed body language to purposefully shut yourself off from your audience, this separation may be ideal for your piece. The main two things I feel a solo performer should consider is, ‘what do you want to achieve?’ therefore ‘how do you go about it?’ and also take the time to question why you are doing things a set way, if there is any way to improve what you are doing, experiment to see how things pan out. As something can seem like a brilliant idea when you plan it in your mind, but when you come to do it isn’t what you expected, so instead of being disappointed, come at it again from another angle. Also consider your audience and test out material on others if possible so you can gauge audience reaction, that way you will know if what you want to achieve in terms of audience reaction is possible or if you need to make some alterations. Trial and error is the most important factor in solo performance.
Works Cited
Armstrong, Gareth (2011) So You Want to do a Solo Show? London: Nick Hern Books Ltd.