Looking for one-person theatre performances on Youtube and Vimeo
December 19, 2023 9:00 PM   Subscribe

I need to study one-person play performances for some theatre work coming up! I'd love to watch some good productions to see how they do their direction, set design and so on.
posted by storybored to Media & Arts (8 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Jim Broadbent in Mike Leigh’s A Sense Of History.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:20 PM on December 19, 2023


DailyMotion has Great British Theatre
posted by gible at 9:43 PM on December 19, 2023


Letters From Wingfield Farm by Dan Needles, starring Rod Beattie. I can't find it streaming, but there are dvds available.
I thought they might be on CBC Gem, but I'm not in a place to check.
posted by Enid Lareg at 9:55 PM on December 19, 2023


Swimming to Cambodia
posted by Windopaene at 10:03 PM on December 19, 2023 [3 favorites]


Sea Wall by Simon Stephens, starring Andrew Scott. Phenomenal.

This version is filmed on location rather than a stage, so feels more like a short film and doesn't help you with set design. But I saw the stage version and it was essentially this but on a black box thrust stage, so hopefully the performance/direction will be helpful for you.

In the stage version, AS was already on stage in character when the audience arrived, holding a bottle of water, drinking from it occasionally, making eye contact, smiling and nodding at people as they came in and walked past him to their seats. IIRC there were lights up on the audience throughout the performance, and it was all performed very naturalistically, with a lot of eye contact and connection between him and the audience, I remember thinking it almost felt like watching stand-up at points.

(CW: Child death, grief)
posted by penguin pie at 4:38 AM on December 20, 2023


Julie Harris as Emily Dickinson in “The Belle of Amherst,” directed by Charles Nelson Reilly.
posted by Melismata at 4:40 AM on December 20, 2023


Tru about Truman Capote can be seen in YouTube in 9 parts. The actor, Robert Morse won a Tony for his performance.
posted by brookeb at 5:12 AM on December 20, 2023


Fires in The Mirror written and performed by Anna Deveare Smith is also on YouTube. The play surrounds the events of the Crown Heights Riots which were set off after a collision of a car driven by someone from the Jewish community killed a Black child and seriously injured another.

Smith plays multiple characters of different races and genders. This is a tough play dealing with racism and Antisemitism so be prepared for tough language and characters that are not always likeable.
posted by brookeb at 5:23 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]


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