Narrative Identity in a Solo Performance: Craig Gingrich-Philbrook’s “The First Time”

In the solo performance of autobiographical narrative, the performer’s body is the primary site for the construction of narrative identity. Autobiographical performance emphasizes the tensions between conventionalized forms of representation and the contingent and relational forms of presentation. That is, presenting “a story about myself” both constitutes and performs identity in a narrative that represents this performative accomplishment as having already taken place. The tensions between the presentation and representation of narrative identity are productive opportunities for queer solo performers who seek to make visible and disrupt the power relations and structures of heterosexist discourse. Analysis of a solo performance, “The First Time” by Craig Gingrich-Philbrook, illustrates how the critical reiteration of conventions can be used to make explicit the operation of narrative identity.