United Solo™ is proud to present the annual United Solo Special Award, which honors outstanding solo artists who performed their shows outside the Festival. These are artists who create captivating performances with sensitivity, audacity, and wisdom. They remind us of immense power of a singular performer, and the possibilities of solo storytelling.
The 2025 United Solo Special Award nominees are: Morgan Bassichis in Can I Be Frank, Dylan Mulvaney in The Least Problematic Woman in the World, Stephen Rea in Krapp's Last Tape, Saul Rubinek in Playing Shylock, Josh Sharp in Ta Da!, Jean Smart in Call Me Izzy, and Sarah Snook in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Morgan Bassichis
in Can I Be Frank
Dylan Mulvaney
in The Least Problematic Woman in the World
Stephen Rea
in Krapp’s Last Tape
Saul Rubinek
in Playing Shylock
Josh Sharp
in Ta Da!
Jean Smart
in Call Me Izzy
Sarah Snook
in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Saul Rubinek, winner of the 2025 United Solo Special Award, joins such illustrious past honorees of the United Solo Special Award as: Anna Deavere Smith (2010), Patti LuPone (2011), John Leguizamo (2012), Fiona Shaw (2013), Billy Crystal (2014), James Lecesne (2015), Staceyann Chin in collaboration with Cynthia Nixon (2016), Michael Moore (2017), Renée Taylor (2018), Aasif Mandvi (2019), Ian McKellen (2020), Lee Roy Reams (2021), Dael Orlandersmith (2022), Charles Busch (2023), and Flotilla Debarge (2024).
United Solo named Saul Rubinek as the winner of the
2025 United Solo Special Award.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Rubinek said: “Solo performance is a singular act of bravery,” adding, “The magic trick is to replace the word get—I want to get an audience, I want to get good reviews, I want to get paid, I want to get recognition—with the word give… I want to give a performance.”
