United Solo Theatre Festival is the world's largest solo

theatre festival Theatre festivals are amongst the earliest types of festival. Classical Greek theatre was associated with religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus, called the City Dionysia. The medieval mystery plays were presented at the major Christian feasts ...

. It takes place at Theatre Row on 42nd Street in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Its founder and artistic director is

Omar Sangare Omar Sangare (born 14 November 1970, Stalowa Wola) is a Poles, Polish United States, American actor, academic, poet, and theatre director. He graduated from The Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, where he studied w ...

. The festival presents many categories of solo shows, including storytelling, puppetry, dance, multimedia, improvisations, stand-up, magic, drama, and comedy. Since its inaugural edition, the Festival raises money for

The Actors Fund ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

2010 season

The line-up of 47 solo shows was presented between November 8 and 21. The solo artists from three continents took part in the two-week festival. Four-time

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominee

Marsha Mason Marsha Mason (born April 3, 1942) is an American actress and director. She has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Actress: for her performances in ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973), ''The Goodbye Girl'' (1977), '' Chapter Two'' ...

presented awards at the closing ceremony, including the special for

Anna Deavere Smith Anna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is known for her roles as National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally in ''The West Wing'' (2000–06), hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus in the Showtime series ''Nur ...

2011 season

Submissions for the second edition opened on March 1 and on closed May 16, 2011. The festival began on October 20 and it was concluded with a Closing Ceremony on November 20. It took place in Theatre Row in New York City. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' chose United Solo for its ''The New Season'' Fall Preview, and the ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' gave the Festival a ''wild card''. In 2011, the United Solo board has nominated four performers for the : Daniel Beaty in ''Through the Night'',

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...

in ''Stories by Heart'',

Patti LuPone Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fa ...

in ''The Gypsy in My Soul'', and

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

in ''Weapons of Self-Destruction''. The 2011 went to Patti LuPone.

2012 season

The third United Solo Festival presented 100 shows between October 11 - November 18, 2012. Nominees for the special were

Kathy Griffin Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show '' Kathy ...

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

and

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (; ; born July 22, 196013:04) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced ...

. The award went to John Leguizamo. Among other award winners were Lynn Marie Rink, Ann Morrison,

Austin Pendleton Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor. He is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen who has appeared in films including ''Catch-22'' (1970); '' W ...

and Bill Bowers. United Solo received the title of the "Person of the Year 2012" from .

2013 season

The 4th festival was held at Theatre Row in New York City between October 3 – November 24, 2013 and featured 120 productions from 23 countries and 6 continents, among them

Gordon Clapp Gordon Clapp (born September 24, 1948) is an American actor best known for playing Det. Greg Medavoy for all 12 seasons of the television series ''NYPD Blue'', winning an Emmy Award in 1998. Early life and education Clapp was born in North Conw ...

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...

Ann Morrison Ann Morrison (born April 9, 1956) is an American actress, best known for her Broadway debut as Mary Flynn in the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical, '' Merrily We Roll Along'' directed by Harold Prince for which she won the 1982 Theatre World ...

, and Alison Wearing. The special award went to

Fiona Shaw Fiona Shaw (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish film and theatre actress. She is known for her roles as Petunia Dursley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2010), Marnie Stonebrook in the fourth season of the HBO serie ...

, who accepted it during festival's closing ceremony on November 24.

2014 season

Over 130 participants will perform in the 5th anniversary season between September 18 – November 23, 2014. Artists will represent six continents. The festival will span over ten weeks, which is five times longer than in the inaugural year.Broadway World, May 20, 2014
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United Solo Europe

Since 2013, United Solo invites selected performers to present their works at the festival's European showcase, among them Regina Advento of Tanztheater Wuppertal

Pina Bausch Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as . Bausch's approach was noted for a stylized blend of dance mov ...

and

External links

Official site for the festival in New YorkOfficial site for the festival's showcase in Europe
* ttp://broadway.broadwayworld.com/printcolumn.php?id=394978 BroadwayWorld.com previews 2012 United Solobr>Broadway World on 2010 EditionBackStage on 2010 Edition

References

{{reflist American theater awards Theatre festivals in the United States Festivals in Manhattan 2010 establishments in New York City Recurring events established in 2010 Annual events in New York City