1st Stage is gearing up for week two of The Logan Festival of Solo Performance, presented with generous support from The Revada Foundation and Eileen Mandell, running from August 20 – 30, 2026.
This innovative festival, acclaimed in The Washington Post with “three plays prove the power of one,” will gather award-winning solo performers from across the country for performances, workshops, discussions, and events. The 2026 festival features three dynamic productions:
Baron Vaughn: Cycle Breaker
Written and Performed by Baron Vaughn
Directed by Aysan Celik
Nothing brings your own childhood into focus like raising your own children. Married 40-something father, Baron Vaughn digs into his own past to understand how it formed him and how he’ll approach parenthood in his funny and deeply human solo show. Baron explores his relationships with his parents and grandparents as he uncovers the values he wishes to instill and the damage he’d rather not pay forward to his own children. Part stand-up comedy, part memory play, Baron Vaughn: Cycle Breaker is a meditation on family and what it takes to truly break a cycle.
It Ends With Guinea Pigs
Written and Performed by Diana Gitelman
Directed by Faline England
What begins as the reluctant adoption of two male guinea pigs unexpectedly becomes a portal into generational trauma, cultural identity, marriage dynamics, motherhood exhaustion, hamster-related murder guilt, and an eventual emotional awakening. We journey from non–self-care Soviet Jewish roots to pigs, lice, and healing through pig poop. The guinea pigs—objectively useless—become absurd spirit guides, opening the door to unprocessed grief tied to Frisky and “Babushka” (Grandma). Along the way, they help forge new boundaries and rebuild self-worth, culminating in a love of self, life, and, oddly…these pigs.
LET IT BE ART! Harold Clurman’s Life of Passion
Written and Performed by Ronald Rand
Through the unforgettable performance by award-winning actor Ronald Rand, audiences are invited on an inspiring journey that celebrates the life, passion, and humor of the legendary Harold Clurman, known as “the Elder Statesman of the American Theatre”. As co-founder, with Lee Strasberg and Cheryl Crawford, of the famed Group Theatre of the 1930s — considered by many the most significant ensemble art theatre in the history of the American Theatre — Clurman helped revolutionize not only the American Theatre, but American acting in every facet. LET IT BE ART! honors the breadth of Clurman’s legacy and the transformative power of theatre.
The Logan Festival of Solo Performance runs from August 20-30, 2026. The final week of performances will have showtimes as follows:
Baron Vaughn: Cycle Breaker: Tuesday, August 25 at 7:30pm; Saturday, August 29 at 5:00pm; Sunday, August 30 at 7:30pm
It Ends With Guinea Pigs: Wednesday, August 26 at 7:30pm; Thursday, August 27 at 7:30pm; Saturday, August 29 at 7:30pm; Sunday, August 30 at 2:00pm
LET IT BE ART!: Friday, August 28 at 7:30pm; Saturday, August 29 at 2:00pm; Sunday, August 30 at 5:00pm
Please email the box office at boxoffice@1ststage.org for reservations.
General admission tickets are $20 per show and $10 per show for Students with valid ID. Individual tickets can be purchased online at www.1stStage.org or by emailing the 1st Stage box office at boxoffice@1ststage.org.
