[NoHo Arts District, CA] – In this month’s Soaring Solo blog, Jessica Lynn Johnson discusses “The 7 Deadly Sins of Solo Theatre.”

“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” – Oscar Wilde

This month’s blog title might have you fearful that I am going to jump into the pulpit, whip open a Bible and give you a heady dose of fire and brimstone. Or perhaps you’re concerned that I’ll take you back in time to 1995 and cue up horrific film scenes about a deranged serial killer from the thriller Seven starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. 

Don’t worry, neither of those terrifying things is going to happen today. 

However, I am going to take a brutally honest look at the traditional 7 Deadly Sins and reveal how each one of them can result in your solo show journey becoming a hellacious one. 

This examination is not meant to shame us as solo artists. It’s intended to shed light on our humanity. As creators and performers of solo theatre, it can be scary to face the darkness that often accompanies our creative process. Yet, without radically acknowledging the truth about ourselves, we cannot stay in integrity and have an experience that is ultimately filled with love and light.

In today’s blog entry, we are going to bravely look at what makes us fabulous and what makes us flawed. From this place of radical acceptance of our wholeness, we can be free to go on the solo journey, owning and sharing all of who we are.

So, take my hand, be brave and let’s dive into the 7 Deadly Sins of Solo Theatre!

1. Lust

Lust is a powerful craving that has become unhealthy and obsessive. When it comes to solo theatre ambitions, goals and dreams, desiring these things is a beautiful thing and a fantastic motivator. 

However, we do not want our passion to become a lustful longing that erases balance from our lives. 

Yes, you want to prioritize your solo show, but not to the exclusion of everything else in your life. For example, you likely still have responsibilities centered around your family, friendships, self care, career, pets, etc. While these things may take a backburner position for a season when you are facing deadlines and milestones with your one-person show, you never want to take them off of the metaphorical stove entirely. 

The best solo theatre is produced by artists who understand that they need to strive for balance in their life so that they come to the page and to the stage with a full cup ready to pour into their creativity. 

Getting a full night’s sleep, eating nutrient-rich meals, exercising, spending time with loved ones, making money to pay for your creative endeavors, and maintaining all other aspects of your life directly contributes to manifesting a powerful solo show.

Lust can also pervert the motives behind writing and performing your solo show.

Therefore, it is also vital that every solo artist has a meaningful “why” motivating their process. If the driving force behind the project is solely a lust for money, accolades, success and attention, audience validation, the energy coming from the performer will be doused in narcissism and self gratification. This myopic motivation will repel your support system, creative team and the audience. Not only that, this shallow reasoning lacks the depth of inspiration you will need to complete a run or a tour of your show. There must be a deeper, more benevolent hunger and craving behind the work.

2. Gluttony 

We often think of gluttony as over-indulgence or over-consumption of food or drink, but the concept also encompasses the act of hoarding resources and refusing to share with others. 

I see gluttony rear its ugly head in solo theatre when an artist maintains a scarcity mindset. They accumulate a great deal of information, assets and resources, but ultimately hold these things behind their back, afraid there isn’t enough to go around.

 They don’t open up about opportunities such as grants, festival submissions, creative contacts and so on. They don’t offer to share props, set pieces or wardrobe items. They resist other solo artists seeing their shows or reading their writing for fear of having their ideas stolen. They worry that if they share what they know or what they have, there will be less for them. 

Now, I am not suggesting that you do not protect your intellectual property, or that you should not collect a wealth of creative assets, resources and contacts for your own ambitions. I am not saying it is your job to keep your peers informed about every opportunity that you come across, or that you should have no boundaries or limits around sharing assets.

Instead, I am encouraging you to pay attention to your mindset when a moment presents itself where you could share a piece of useful knowledge, an opportunity or even a physical item that might be of service to another artist. 

Do you withhold or do you share? Why or why not? If it’s because you often succumb to distrust or a mentality of lack, then you may want to really look at that. Believing you must be gluttonous because scarcity is the reality you live in will likely leave you isolated and empty, not soaring solo.

3. Greed  

Greed is known as an excessive, selfish desire to acquire more and more of something—especially things like money and power. This “deadly sin” is closely related to gluttony.

 In its application to solo theatre, artists who suffer from a greedy mindset are often so tunnel-visioned about what they can get, that they hardly have room to ask what they can give. 

People are intuitive and they can sense greedy intentions a mile away. No one wants to engage with a taker. Most people are attracted to reciprocity. 

Yes, it is vital to take care of one’s own needs first and foremost, but it is of equal importance to maintain a community mindset on the solo path. While it is a one-person show, it truly does require a village to bring a show to fruition.

For instance, if you are only focused on filling your own seats in a theatre, you will likely forget to go see and support other solo artists. The price tag for this self centeredness is that no one will want to come see your show because you did not come see theirs. 

Greed is also a bottomless pit. It’s a black hole that leads to hell. Nothing will ever satiate it. You and your solo show and anything you will ever achieve through your solo show will never be enough for greed. 

A purer, healthier, and more satisfying motivator is the pursuit of nourishment. Ask yourself, “What would I like to get out of this performance that would nourish my mind, body, and soul? What would nourish my creative ambitions? What can I give back to my creative community and peers that would nourish them? What would nourish my audience?” These types of questions will keep your desires manageable and healthy and coming from a loving place that benefits you, your peers, and your audience.

4. Sloth

Sloths are adorable animals, but being a slothful solo artist is definitely not cute. Essentially, a slothful disinclination to taking action, setting goals, doing your homework or meeting deadlines keeps you in a horrendous cycle of “someday”. 

Someday you will write a solo show. Someday you will put it on stage. Someday you will tour the world with it. Someday you will transform yourself and others with your powerful story. And then someday never comes to fruition.

Slothfulness is often not driven by chronic laziness. It is born out of unworthiness or a fear of success, or a mixture of both. If you believe that you do not have a story worth telling, then why would you sit down and write it? If you doubt your skills as a performer or a writer, then why would you meet that submission deadline that is coming up? If you believe that everyone and everything else is more important than your own creative expression, then why would you carve out time to write and rehearse your solo show? If you are afraid that success as a solo artist will mean you have to start living the life of your dreams and that acceleration scares you, then why would you hire a director and start preparing for your premiere?

 All of this being said, if you notice that you are not taking any real action toward your solo theatre goals, consider that you might need to do some inner work on your belief system as part of the creative process. 

Writing and performing a solo show is often the action that helps to grow our self-esteem and step into our greatness. We don’t obtain these things first and then go after our solo goals. We incorporate this inner work into the writing and performing of our solo shows and consequently evolve as the show evolves. 

Ask your director, your creative community, your friends and family to encourage you along the way. It’s ok to admit that you are struggling with believing you and your story are enough or allowing yourself to ascend into a great future. The people who love you will want to support you along the solo road. Let them. Similarly, you will want to protect yourself and solo craft from naysayers and critics. 

Another reason people are slothful is that they think that they can only create or perform when they feel inspired. Unfortunately, the Muse does not show up to every writing session, every rehearsal or every performance. She is on her own schedule and expects you to do the work despite her lack of appearance. That is where discipline comes in. That is where your work ethic enters the picture. You won’t always feel like it, but keep the commitment to yourself and do it anyway.

5. Wrath

Wrath presents itself as volatile anger and rage. It also maintains a spirit of revenge, punishment, or retribution. 

Wrath can certainly be useful when you are purging on the page. In fact, writing from a wrathful space helps release and alchemize such intense feelings. 

However, you will ultimately want to allow your creative process to aid in your healing, not in fueling the fire of your unforgiveness. 

We have all seen those solo shows where the performer is completely unhinged on stage. We become their unpaid therapist without our consent and we leave the theatre feeling violated and concerned for the wellness of the performer. This is obviously not the result that you want. 

So, yes, utilize your raw, uncensored emotions, your bitterness, your heartbreak, and your desire for justice to help you write your script. Yet, when you are in editing mode, when you start to rehearse, and certainly when you are standing up in front of an audience, those unbridled words and feelings must be under control and within your control. 

How do you ensure this happens? You go to therapy. You meditate. You share various versions of your script with a trusted few and ask for their constructive feedback. You work with a director who will be honest with you about your readiness to bring your story to the stage. 

The insight, healing, forgiveness and transformation that solo theatre provides is yours if you choose to receive it.

6. Envy

Envy usually stems from comparing oneself to others and realizing one is lacking what someone else has. Envy and jealousy are really painful and poisonous emotions to feel as a solo artist. Other solo artists can pick up on that negative energy and it will cause them to distrust you when jealous vibes are clearly present. 

Envy robs you of seeing your own unique gifts and talents. It’s impossible to feel confident about the story you want to tell on stage while deciding others are more capable, more interesting, and more talented. 

Some solo artists think that the solution is to isolate themselves and to avoid seeing anyone else’s work. This is the worst thing you can do if you are struggling with envy. It may seem to protect you from feeling envious, but it also stops you from feeling inspired. It stops you from being part of a creative community. It stops you from being made aware of what is possible theatrically and technically. 

The best serum I have found to heal the wounds that jealousy and envy inflict is to befriend and converse with your envy and jealousy. Ask them, “What is it that you are desiring for me and my solo show that is making you feel this way?” 

Your jealousy and envy may answer with things like, “I desire for you to play dynamic characters. I desire for you to have a compelling story. I desire for you to win awards. I desire for you to impact audiences.” 

Once you start honestly engaging with your jealousy, do not allow your fear or limiting beliefs to tell you, “None of those things are possible for you. Those things are strictly reserved for other solo artists.” 

Instead, start seeking support to enable those outcomes for yourself. Hire a dramaturg. Rehearse with a director. Apply for awards. Take inspired action rather than sitting back and letting envy eat you alive.

7. Pride

Pride is feeling deeply satisfied with one’s own achievements or having really exaggerated self-esteem.

In all of my years working as a director of solo theatre, it is actually very rare that I run into true pride. Most of the time, pride is just unworthiness wearing a costume and pretending to be overly confident. Pride is also fear of vulnerability donning a mask. 

Solo Artists tend to be afraid that if they share the deepest, darkest, most flawed parts of themselves in their solo shows, they will be hated. So, instead they try to flaunt only their best parts. But audiences are smart. They know you are merely human. They know you have screwed some things up in your life and that you are not perfect. They know this because the same thing is true for all of us. 

Your audience came to the theatre to see your humanity and to see themselves in your story. Being human is definitely fabulous, but it is also flawed. You will stand proudly, but not with arrogance, when you can stand on stage and say, “This is all of me; my scars, my mistakes, my successes, my failures, my dreams, my beliefs, my story, and I accept all of this about myself, and your opinion of me is none of my business.”

Well, solo artists, you did it. You examined the consequences of the 7 Deadly Sins of Solo Theatre with me, and you also absorbed healthier alternatives to these behaviors. 

I hope you were able to humbly see yourself in this list and graciously allow yourself to be a perfectly imperfect human being and solo artist. I encourage you to write about whatever came up for you as you read this. It will likely lead to some devilishly good material 😉

As always, remember that solo theatre may not be easy, but it is so worth it!

Jessica Lynn Johnson
Founder & CEO of Soaring Solo LLC
SoaringSoloArtist@gmail.com
www.SoaringSoloStudios.com

Enjoy these Solo Theatre Resources to Further Guide You on Your Solo Journey!

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Award-winning director and developer Jessica Lynn Johnson hosts a slew of powerful solo show script readings and full staged productions addressing various impactful and inspiring topics.

This full Soaring Solo Studios calendar can be found by CLICKING HERE FOR MORE INFO.

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Utilizing thought-provoking writing prompts, Jessica will lead you in writing exercises that are sure to assist you in the development of your solo show.

A one-person play is not typically written in one fell swoop. Rather, the Soaring Solo Methodology teaches that the creation of solo art is much like that of creating a Mosaic…one beautiful piece at a time.

All that is required to attend this inspiring event is a willingness to explore, having a pen, paper, or some other means of capturing your thoughts, the ability to access Zoom, and signing up on this page as your official RSVP.

We look forward to having you join the Soaring Solo Community in this event because your story matters!

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No matter where you are in the creation of your solo show, idea phase, curiosity phase, full draft written, touring the festival and college market, BEST NATIONAL SOLO ARTIST and founder of Soaring Solo, Jessica Lynn Johnson, will meet you where you are at and take you to the next level! All that is required to attend is a willingness to explore, a pen, and some paper. No previous writing or performance experience necessary, and no need to have written anything to bring to class. Each week, Jessica will guide you in exercises to help generate and stage NEW material! So come and meet other creatives in a supportive space for expression and exploration! The class is ongoing and so you may pop in and out as you please, as long as you RSVP BY CLICKING HERE for this FREE ONE-PERSON PLAY CLASS.

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Jessica brings her 15+ years of solo theatre expertise to work privately with solo artists from all over the world on an as needed basis.

A 1-on-1 consultation is for you if…

-You are curious about creating a solo show, but you need writing prompts to help you generate material.
– You are tossing around ideas for your solo show, but you need some accountability and encouragement to commit those ideas to the page.
-You have already written some material, but you need expert feedback on editing, story structure and play formatting.
-You have a great first draft, but need guidance on how to utilize multimedia and solo theatre technique in order to make your show a dynamic piece of solo theatre.
-You already premiered your solo show and now you want some tips on how to tour colleges and festivals, and garner accolades and great reviews!
-You have heard great things about Jessica’s work and you’re curious about hiring her as a Director & Developer for your solo show, but first, you want to feel her out and see if she is the right fit for you and your project.

Wherever you may find yourself on your solo journey, Jessica will help you overcome whatever immediate obstacle stands between you and your solo success.  

If you resonate with many of the things on this list, then take the next step by emailing SoaringSoloArtist@gmail.com for more information.

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