Star Wars trilogy boiled down to one-man show

The entire original Star Wars trilogy has been reduced to a one hour, one-man stage show in New York.

Canadian actor Charles Ross, a self-confessed Star Wars geek, plays every character himself, from Luke Skywalker to R2D2.

He uses no props and no special effects, relying solely on his audience’s knowledge of the Star Wars phenomenon.

He performs the dialogue from the original series, the theme music and the sound effects.

Dressed all in black he holds his hands to his head to convey Princess Leia’s hair and grabs his crotch when he becomes Han Solo.

Ross, 31, who has seen Star Wars more than 400 times, was reportedly hired by Lucas Film to promote the trilogy and encourages his audience to buy Star Wars action figures.

He wrote the show himself and had been performing it at small venues across the US for three years before hitting the Lamb’s Theatre, off-Broadway.

One-man Star Wars Trilogy has won generally positive reviews. It is deemed an “entertainingly nerdy show” in Newsday while Variety magazine described Ross as a “gifted comedian” who easily wins over his audience.

The New York Times concluded that “geek audiences” were where commercial theatre was headed, but added that after 15 minutes the show could seem like “a really long trailer.”

Ross’s next project is a solo performance of The Lord of the Rings.