It was inevitable that many performing-arts companies were going to come out of the pandemic shutdown leaner, offering smaller-cast shows that are more cost-effective to produce than large ensemble shows. In 2023, that made for an unprecedented swath of one-actor monologues from companies that, for the most part, turned economic necessity into artistic excellence.

The risk of staging a solo play, of course, is that if anything goes wrong – from the quality of the material to the capability of the actor to the show’s production quality – one-actor plays can make audiences feel like they are trapped in Dante’s Inferno.

But, in the right hands, actors at the top of their craft can hold their audiences rapt and engaged from their first word to their last. That’s what we got from at least five outstanding solo performances from some of the biggest names in the Colorado theater community (all of whom, in what I can only assume was a coincidence, are women):

DEE COVINGTON

• “On the Exhale,” by Martin Zimmerman

• Presented by Curious Theatre

• Directed by Chip Walton

• At a glance: Covington was riveting and frighteningly understandable as a liberal college professor whose young son is killed in a school shooting and later finds herself inexplicably drawn to the very weapon used to perpetrate the crime — and to the irresistible feeling of power that comes from holding life and death in her hands.

• Reaction: “The raw emotions are so intense during Dee Covington’s vulnerable and yet fanatical performance that you don’t have much time to breathe.” – Susan Harper, OnStage Colorado

BILLIE McBRIDE

• “The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion

• Presented by the Aurora Fox

• Directed by Christy Montour-Larson

• At a glance: Didion’s best-selling memoir becomes a searing stage account of her journey through grief after the sudden deaths of two family members. The story follows the comedy and bewilderment of a fiercely intelligent woman whose world suddenly lurches from the ordinary to an unexpected exploration of death, illness, marriage, children, memory and the shallowness of sanity.

• Reaction: “There’s something in McBride’s veteran technique and Christy Montour-Larson’s direction that shines an evincing light on Didion’s chilly intelligence.” – Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post

BETTY HART

• “Acts of Faith,” by David Yee

• Presented by the Aurora Fox

• Directed by Pesha Rudnick

• At a glance:  When a young Zambian woman named Faith is mistaken for a prophet, she begins to use her “gift” to right wrongs and punish the wicked. This was the first-ever U.S. production of the acclaimed play.

• Reaction: “Hart is a powerhouse. Her performance delivers a punch in the gut while barely raising her voice.” – Eric Fitzgerald, OnStage Colorado

JESSICA ROBBLEE

• “The Belle of Amherst,” by William Luce

• Presented by Clover & Bee, first at Buntport Theater in Denver, then at the Millibo Art Theatre in Colorado Springs

• Directed by Mark Ragan

• At a glance: A delicate exploration of one of America’s greatest poets from age 15, when she was full of hope and success, until she died at 56 a virtual recluse with her door closed to society.

• Reaction: “Robblee is at the top of her game, a highly accomplished actor displaying the confidence and authority necessary to pull this off.” – Alex Miller, OnStage Colorado

JACQUE WILKE

• “Every Brilliant Thing,” by Jonny Donahoe and Duncan Macmillan

• Presented by Happy Dagger at the R Gallery in downtown Boulder

• Directed by Todd Morton

• At a glance: This 70-minute conversation between one actor and one audience could be played by anyone of any age, race or gender, which speaks to the story’s universal message. It revolves around the narrator’s lifelong attempt to cope with the suicide of a parent by creating an unending list of everything that makes life worth living. Every performance, said director Todd Morton, “was packed with laughter, crying and rapt attention.”

• Reaction: “In a year laden with conflict and division and meanness in the world, this performance was like a gentle orb of light and healing.” – John Moore, The Denver Gazette

Elsewhere …

One-actor plays were again thriving in Aspen. Every September, Theatre Aspen hosts its week-long “Solo Flights Festival,” and the 2023 lineup included huge names like four-time Oscar nominee Marsha Mason (“The Goodbye Girl”), two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey (“Hurlyburly”) and Regina Taylor, who wrote the Denver Center’s enduring stage hit “Crowns.”

• Vintage Theatre has just reopened its newish Christmas staple “Who’s Holiday” for its third seasonal run starring Jenny Weiss. That’s an adult one-woman play that features a grown-up Cindy Lou Who from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” It continues through Dec. 31. Info at vintagetheatre.org.

• The majority of shows at the annual Denver Fringe Festival tend to be solo shows. One from last summer already has broken out and is being fully staged by Lakewood’s Benchmark Theatre this month. “FoMo” (or “Formerly Mormon”) is Frankie Lee’s comic and heartfelt story of a young man discovering his queer identity while signing his life away to the Mormon church. It runs Dec. 8-23 at 1560 Teller St. Info at benchmarktheatre.com.

• And, come to think of it, this may be the first holiday season in 25 years when I’m not aware of a single Colorado company staging David Sedaris’ one-actor holiday staple, “The SantaLand Diaries.”

Note: The True West Awards, now in their 23rd year, began as the Denver Post Ovation Awards in 2001. Denver Gazette Senior Arts Journalist John Moore celebrates the Colorado theater community by revisiting 30 good stories from the past year without categories or nominations.