One for the Road is a collection of recent Canadian plays for one actor. Often written and produced for touring and festivals, plays for one performer offer unusual challenges and benefits for both sides of the theatrical event: actor, and audience. The plays in this volume come from writers across the country, and have been road-tested in a variety of venues, from main stage to fringe, and other stops along the way.

What is most exciting about a play for one actor? Often, it’s the wonderfully intense storytelling that takes place, sometimes it’s a bravura performance. Many actors create their own one-person scripts, which are then extremely portable and self-sufficient for touring. Sometimes a one-person play arises from a personal experience?—?a kind of living, breathing memoir?—?one that the artist shapes and hones to express an important discovery or a burning question. In all cases, solo plays draw their audiences deep inside a theatrical expression, an individual vision. Laugh, cry, get angry, be moved by the strong stories in this exciting collection.

The anthology will be of particular interest to students and teachers looking for current, challenging scene work for young actors, as well as to actors searching for the perfect solo piece. Included in the volume are interviews with the playwrights, in which they discuss the creative process of writing and of producing the work.

Kit Brennan was born in Vancouver and grew up in Kingston, Ontario. She currently lives in Montreal where she is a faculty member and coordinates the playwriting program at Concordia University’s Department of Theatre. Her plays have been produced across Canada and include Spring Planting (Winner of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild 1993 Literary Award), Magpie (Winner of the 1992 Grain Drama Award), as well as new plays Hunger Striking and Having. Her latest book Two Hands Clapping (Signature Editions), is a volume of plays written by playwrights from coast to coast and most regions in between.

Kit Brennan's profile page