About us
What is Fillet of Solo
Fillet of Solo (FoS) is a showcase of Chicago’s rich and broad-ranging storytelling community. FoS presents bold, entertaining, revelatory performances from a wide range of perspectives. It hosts both solo artists and collectives. It features established artists as well as offering support and opportunity to new voices.
Who is involved
Sharon Evans (founder of the Fest and curator, 1995-2008, at Live Bait Theater) is partnering with Dorothy Milne (curator of the Fest, 2010-2024, at Lifeline Theatre) to produce Fillet of Solo at Bughouse Theater. They look forward to the continued involvement of the hundreds of Chicago artists who have performed at Fillet of Solo in the past as well as welcoming newcomers. Fillet of Solo is a program of Live Bait Theater, produced with the generous support of the Meyer and Norma Ragir Family Foundation.
How Sharon fell into storytelling...
In the early eighties I was a recent School of the Art Institute graduate and despite three years of non-stop painting and drawing I suddenly felt an urgent impulse to write and perform. So I swerved left and went to work as a cocktail waitress at a Comedy Club to rewire my brain with words not pictures. This led to performance gigs at MoMing, N.A.M.E. Gallery and Links Hall. At one point I even performed my monologue “A Perfect Shade of Lipstick” in the cosmetics window at Marshall Fields! It was called performance art but I was mostly influenced by performance storytellers like Eric Bogosian, Whoopi Goldberg and Spaulding Gray. Soon after my short performances were expanded to mid-length and produced on the Organic Theater’s main stage. “Candyland: The Saga of Helen Brach and her Pet Poodle Sugar” got noticed. “Portrait of Shiksa” followed. Although some in the press said “Hey! A performance artist can’t be a playwright!” I persevered.
Live Bait Theater was opened soon after and I swore, shaking my fist in the air, that solo performance would ALWAYS have a home in my theater. In fact the first show LB produced was James Grigsby, an extraordinary local solo artist and his show “Terminal Madness.” I was told this was a terrible mistake, that nobody would pay more than five bucks for a show that only had one person on stage. Wrong! Marcia Wilkie’s solo show “Duck, Duck Goose” ran for a month and was nominated for a Jeff award. That’s the way it went for twenty years. Plays and solo shows in constant rotation from 1987 to 2008, nominated for over 50 Jeff awards, predominately in the category of new work. I just kept on going and fooled those naysayers, winning a Jeff for Best New Play for “Blind Tasting.” In 1995 Live Bait premiered “Fillet of Solo,” a solo works festival that went on for 12 seasons before moving to Lifeline Theater.
My community work includes “Police, Teen, Link” a nine year program designed to rebuild trust between police and teens though improv and acting. I encouraged police officers I worked with to write and perform monologues about their lives and we produced their show called “Chasing The Radio.” After twenty years I decided I needed a change so my partner John Ragir and I closed Live Bait in 2009 to focus on community work. We handed the reins of Fillet of Solo to Dorothy Milne at Lifeline. Good Move! Another 15 years of excellent solo shows - playing it forward!
Recently I have been an instructor with Goodman Theater’s GENarrations program, helping 55 + seniors craft authentic, impactful personal narratives for over ten years. I currently work in the Lawndale and Portage Park neighborhoods. And I am excited to be part of reimagining Fillet of Solo with Dorothy Milne.
How Dorothy fell into storytelling...
In the early 90s, Amy Sedaris asked if I did solo performance and I said “Yes.” That was a total lie. But... Amy Sedaris would be in the show! And Cheryl Trykv! Plus it would be directed by Mic Napier!!! I had to say yes!
At our first rehearsal, Mic told me to cut my story in half. In half. And he wouldn’t tell me what parts should go! I was so angry as I did those painful edits. Which of course made the story much better. I was hooked.
I became an addict for new work, solo performance, storytelling. I saw Milly’s Orchid Show, The Big Goddess PowWows, the Neo Futurists and of course I was a regular visitor to Live Bait Theater.
The Annoyance hosted “I’m Sweating Under My Breasts” in 1993, a show by an all-women group that we later named Sweat Girls. We moved that first show to Cafe Voltaire for an 8 month run and have been producing together ever since.
I became an ensemble member (1992-2023) at Lifeline Theatre (new work theater!) and served as artistic director (1999-2018). At Lifeline, I directed 23 world premieres, two national tours, developed the Lifeline Storytelling Project and taught storytelling and drama through Lifeline’s residency program at Sullivan High School. When Live Bait closed its physical facility and sought another new work theater to take over Fillet of Solo, Lifeline became its second home (2010-2024). I am so geeked to partner with Sharon on the next chapter for Fillet of Solo.