“Touch,” directed by Jonathan Silverstein, is one of six plays selected for Theatre Aspen’s Solo Flight, the nation’s only festival dedicated to one-person plays. Solo Flight runs Sept. 5-11 at the Hearst Theatre.
Courtesy of Theatre Aspen
Theatre Aspen’s fifth annual Solo Flight Festival, running Sept. 5-11 at the Hearst Theatre, will feature six different one-man plays.
Solo Flights is the only festival dedicated to one-person plays. Eligible plays must have never been performed before a paying audience.
The event was “created to fill a void,” says Theatre Aspen producer Jed Bernstein. “There wasn’t a major festival focused on the development of the one-person play, which is growing rapidly as a theatrical genre. Talented theatres need to contribute to the development of new work, and we believe Theatre Aspen can make a significant contribution to the art form by focusing on this area.”
In 2022, Theatre Aspen will establish the Solo Flights Project Advancement Fund, offering $10,000 grants to two selected festival productions to support their future development.
The plays selected for the upcoming festival are: The Binding of Lilly, written by Joseph Doherty, directed by Emily Maltby and starring Oona Laurence; Long Drive Home, written by Steven Kaplan and directed by Hannah Ryan; The Great Thirst, written and starring Justin Tranter and directed by Nigel Smith; From Kabul With Love, written and starring Safi Rauf and Sami Canold and directed by Sami Canold; and Sugarbelly and Other Tales My Father Told Me, written and starring Guy Davis and directed by Dean Irby.
Anthony Rapp stars in the one-man play “Touch,” part of the Solo Flight Festival, running at the Hearst Theatre from September 5 to 11. Rapp has appeared in two of the defining productions of his generation, the film “Dazed and Confused” and Broadway’s “Rent.”
Courtesy of Theatre Aspen
The sixth play in the festival is “Touch,” written by Kenny Finkle and directed by Jonathan Silverstein, starring Anthony Rapp, who appeared in two of the most iconic productions of his generation, the film “Dazed and Confused” and Broadway’s “Rent.”
Touch is a one-man play about Sydney Blatter, a middle-aged, gay secondary school drama teacher whose life takes an unexpected turn when he encounters a former student after suffering a panic attack on the subway, forcing him to confront his ambitious past and unfulfilling present.
Silverstein served as one of three jurors who selected the two plays that received Solo Advancement Fund awards at last year’s Solo Flight Festival, and he also traveled to Aspen last winter to perform his play, “The Year of Magical Thinking,” as part of Theatre Aspen’s winter lineup.
He said Solo Flight is different from other festivals not only because it focuses on creating one-person plays, but also because its format allows the creative team to get feedback from the audience after the premiere and fine-tune the plays before re-runs.
“Because of the exchange, the audience will come up to you and give you their thoughts. You have the opportunity to have a one-on-one dialogue with the audience, which is invaluable,” Silverstein says. “You can then incorporate that feedback into rehearsals and see how it shapes the piece. And, of course, if you win, getting funding to keep the project moving forward is a big deal.”
One-man plays are currently experiencing a resurgence: Comedian Alex Edelman’s “Just Like Us,” about being Jewish and attending a white supremacist rally in Queens, ran on Broadway and won a Tony Award, then became an HBO special and received multiple Emmy nominations.
The hit Netflix show “Baby Reindeer” also started out as a one-man show before gaining global popularity.
“Solo plays are very flexible,” Silverstein says, “and can take any shape or form, so it’s great that this festival is showcasing all the different facets of solo theatre. And I think, for sure, some of these shows will continue to develop further, whether that be in smaller theatres or on Broadway. We’ll see where that goes.”
Silverstein and screenwriter Kenny Finkle have been working on the play in New York City but have never had the opportunity to work with Rapp.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Anthony,” Silverstein said, “He’s not a playwright at all, and I’m really interested to hear what the lines will sound like coming from his mouth and through him. So part of the rehearsal period is making sure the words suit Anthony and seeing how the two mesh together to tell the right story.”
The three co-stars will rehearse for about three days before the premiere, then take a few more days to work through changes and perform the second show.
“I think what Jed and Theatre Aspen are doing is heroic, giving time and space to projects that don’t often get the opportunity for this kind of incubation,” Silverstein says. “We all have high hopes for ‘Touch,’ and we’re so grateful to see it come to life in Aspen.”
For showtimes and more information, visit theatrespen.org