United Solo Theatre Festival 2021

The 12th  Annual  United Solo Theatre Festival, based  at  Theatre Row in New York City,  is the world’s largest solo theatre  festival.  After a decade of presenting over one thousand solo  shows, the  Festival  returns to its stage  at Theatre Row. There, it will feature  productions from around the  globe. United Solo features a vast array of shows ranging from drama, storytelling, and multimedia shows to stand-up,  improv, dance, and musical. To learn more, visit United Solo.  

Below are the performances with their dates and showtimes.

PTSD & Me by Erika Land – 10/27 @ 3:00pm:  PTSD  and ME is a one woman play irresistibly lined with truth and palpable poetry. The story is about Land’s personal life, military experiences, and her struggles with  PTSD. The story highlights the nuances of living with post-traumatic stress disorder and the journey toward coming to terms with not being okay. Patrons can expect to leave the raw performance thoroughly entertained and with a better understanding of  PTSD.

The Near-Disaster of Jasper and Casper by Jason Woods – 10/27 @ 7:30pm:  Jasper, adopted brother of Casper, is looking for his true family and discovers a witch, a mysterious dragon, and a purpose he never expected. Ghosts, magic, and hilarity abound in The Near-Disaster of  Jasper  & Casper, an adventure of the heart!  

PLAY by Boutros El Amari – 10/28 @ 7:30pm:  Play, a funny, little man, is swallowed by his video game console. He becomes, despite himself, the hero of a new video game! Play, thanks to his imagination, brings us to see the world through his eyes while opening the world to Playland. Throughout this “Role Playing Game” Play lives a lot of extraordinary adventures: he is chased by a zombie, rides on a dizzy roller coaster, passes through some parallel universe, takes part in crazy car racing, falls in love with a princess, and fights a dragon:

American Pain by Stephanie Burden – 10/29 @ 7:30pm:  When Jenna Sayre gets a job selling Purdue Pharma’s miracle drug Oxycontin, she’s over the moon with happiness. A poverty-stricken single mom, Jenna can suddenly afford everything she’s ever wanted for her son Donnie, a nice house, a good education and a chance to be part of the prestigious Shep Master’s National Youth Football League. But just as Jenna and Donnie start enjoying the good life, they learn Purdue’s promises are not what they seem, and their sweet American dream quickly becomes a nightmare.  

WHO GOES THERE by Tara Hugo – 10/26 @ 7:30pm and 10/30 @ 7:30pm:Trumpists, liberals, artists, child prodigies, atheists, evangelists, white supremacists, addicts. A divided family in a divided country. Hugo traces the divide. “I searched ancestor’s letters, diaries, poems, some in the Library of Congress, to understand today’s lies and truths. I’m a descendant of the great divide, individuals that risked reinventing themselves. Christians married Jews, whites married blacks, women rejected tradition, same sex love, gender transition. Many disowned, or at best labeled, tolerated. For love of family, parents compromised their dreams within the confines of conservative communities informed by Fox news. The civil war is alive today: “I’m the descendant of a union soldier, called the Missouri Poet Laureate. I read his letter to his daughter saying “sing the song I wrote”

Chocoholic by Lilly Dennis – 10/30 @ 3:00pm:  Chocoholic is a one-person show based on the true story of the loss.  Chocoholic tells the story of a young woman who is on trial in the ‘court of preposterous addictions’ for being an ‘out-of-control’  chocoholic. The show is set in an imaginary courtroom where the audience becomes the jury. However, what starts as a comedic show, with the actor playing many hilarious and dynamic characters, quickly takes a dark turn, as the real reason behind this young woman’s addiction to  chocolate is revealed. The past, present and future all come together to debate what is behind this young woman’s addiction. The play brings to life the reality we all feel in the loss of a loved one. How death doesn’t just kill the life it takes but also leaves a horrible path of grief in its wake.  

A Million Breaths by Sarkaut Taro 11/2 – 7:30pm:  It is one man show, playing several roles as a theatrical drama.  

Her Infinite Variety by Elina Mustonen – 11/3 @ 3:00pm:  “Her Infinite  Variety – Women of Shakespeare in Word and Music” is a unique solo performance by the actress-musician Elina Mustonen, combining texts by William Shakespeare with the music of his contemporaries performed on the virginal.

Fake News by Osman Baig – 11/3 @ 7:30pm:  A sell-out  show  at the Edinburgh Fringe 2019,  Fake News  is now headed to London’s Bridge Theatre & the West End. In it, a budding young journalist stumbles on an astonishing  scoop & decides to click publish. There’s just one problem: it’s  completely untrue.  

The 40th man? Or 28th woman!? by Saeb Mir – 11/3 @ 9:30pm:  The main concept of my theater, genocide in a community, hope, human captivity, is the importance of peace and life. In theater, see the story of an  unknown  region, in which 66 people live. 39 men and 27 women. First, everything is fine, but one day a disease (the disease has a certain symbol) enters the village and kills all the men. And we hear the story of the village from the language of the last man here.  The boy was born due to an infertile past. And now he is waiting in a closed room:

The Lift by Liz Bryan Elliot – 11/4 @ 7:30pm:  A comedy for the  Me Too  era,  The Lift  is a show about dating, self-love and finding clarity in elevators. Main character Liz gets stuck in an elevator on the way to yet another date and gets some lessons about raising her self-esteem from a jaded, foul-mouthed emergency button operator.  

BECOMING OTHELLO: A Black Girl’s Journey by Debra Ann Byrd – 11/4 @ 9:30pm:  Through rhyme, meter, lyrical language, and soulful songs, this one-woman theatrical drama chronicles the life of classical actress, Debra Ann Byrd; her trials and triumphs with race and the classics; and her gender-flipped journey on the road to  becoming  Shakespeare’s noble flawed general Othello. A personal, poignant and powerful story of  perseverance, tragedy, triumph’”and ultimately unconditional love.  

UNCONDITIONAL by Margot Rose – 11/5 @ 7:30pm:  Say someone asks you ‘what was the worst day of your life?’ If you don’t answer in 3 seconds, you haven’t had it.  UNCONDITIONAL  is a story of dedication and loss, connection, community and a backyard. Written and  composed by actress/writer Margot Rose, told through pathos, wit and music.  

Life Encounters 2 by Michelle Hartley – 11/5 @ 9:30pm:  Ms. Hartley performs 14 characters that depict life encounters that reflect racism, determination, loss and triumph. The begins at her age of 6 and concludes during present day. The various themes are presented in a way that the audience can relate, empathize, ponder and cheer! The show has been described as real and thought provoking.  

Trich by Becca Schneider – 11/6 @ 2:00pm & 11/13 @ 7:30pm:  This is a solo show about living with Trich. You might not know what that is, but don’t worry, I’ll tell you when you get here. You’ll meet a teenage girl with an undeniable secret that no one seems to notice, so she hides in her basement cubicle wondering if anyone will come downstairs. Whoa, did this get too dark too fast? I only have a 90-word limit for this blurb, so let me explain more succinctly that – oops, out of time. Guess I’ll have to see you there!

EARTHSONG by Heather Forest – 11/6 @ 7:30pm:  EARTHSONG  is a musical monologue about planetary ecology. Through storytelling, science, and song, this work offers insights into Mother Earth’s cosmological, geological, and anthropological history. It encourages planetary citizenship and a reverence for the web of life.

The Elephant in the Room by Melanie Greenberg – 11/7 @ 3:00pm:  The tale of a nice Jewish girl  who goes  on a psychedelic odyssey through Pentecostal churches, psych wards, the Ivy League and 12-step meetings that finally brings her closer to God, herself and a resolution of intergenerational trauma. But funny! And wit