Hal Holbrook and others have played Mark Twain for years, performing solo. Even Mark Twain did the same, although they were called lectures a century ago. About ten years ago, Robert Morse took on the role of Truman Capote in the one-man show called Tru, on Broadway.
Contemporary examples include Kevin Kling, Rob Becker's Defending the Caveman, and Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, which began as a one-woman show before various stars and celebrities started appearing.
Of course, this venue requires the playwright to also be a fearless performer, willing to bare all on a stage, alone with the audience. The rewards can be worth it, but keeping an audience's attention for up to two hours presents a challenge for the solo actor and playwright.
In some cases, the one-person show is largely a long stand-up monologue. However, a lot of acting has been incorporated into some of these shows. For Tru, the set was Truman Capote's living room. Robert Morse moved around the room, answering telephones and doors, talking to unseen and unheard others, and keeping a conversation with himself. And in Hal Holbrook's presentations of Mark Twain, his characterization of the famous American storyteller has always been a focal point of the show.
The Vagina Monologues is a compilation of women's thoughts, based on many personal interviews. So although it's a single theme, it is presented as many different short pieces. The Twain pieces are similar in this respect, being storytelling rather than acting out a story line.
So one of the first decisions the playwright has to make is what this one-person show will be: monologue, storytelling, solo acting, performance art, or some combination.
For all of the writing, the standard elements of drama (theme, plot, dialogue, characterization, and perhaps music and spectacle) should always be considered, since this is still dramatic writing. Dialogue needs to be crisp and characters need to be well defined.
The main elements of drama still apply, although a single theme, plot, and story line will probably not work for storytelling and monologues. Rather, those will likely have many plots and stories, tied together with a single theme.
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