It’s not that Cara Yeates is antisocial or anything like that — she just happens to be known for her impressive performances in one-woman plays.

The Vancouver-based actor launched her professional career with a solo show she both wrote and performed. Knee Deep in Muck, about Canada’s tree-planting culture, premiered at the Edmonton Fringe Festival in 2004.

Yeates said she decided to pursue a one-person show at the time because she had just moved to Vancouver and wasn’t yet plugged into the local theatre scene. Another idea for a solo show came after that, and her next self-created project was Bye Bye Bombay, which Yeates toured across Canada and performed in New York and Mexico.

Even though Yeates said one-person plays weren’t the only thing she wanted to do, the next two were offers that were too good to pass up. Whistler audiences may remember Yeates from her energetic and multi-faceted portrayal of the teenage runaway Madeleine in Some Reckless Abandon at last year’s inaugural Blank Slate Theatre Festival.

She’s returning to the festival this year with — you guessed it — another solo production. This time audiences can experience Yeates as Sammi Sam, a bubbly children’s entertainer who finds out she’s unexpectedly pregnant and must decide what comes next. The Big Oops, written by Brendan McLeod and directed by TJ Dawe, is an edgy, quirky comedy with catchy original songs, serious moments and a conclusion that’s as complex as real life, Yeates said. The show is now running at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler and continues through Saturday (Sept. 4).

“I really love the challenge of this piece — the tension between the kids’ performer and the adult themes that start to burst through,” Yeates said.

The whole play is presented as a children’s show, but one for adults. As Sammi’s people-pleasing façade begins to crumble, issues such as abortion and choosing between children and career opportunities present themselves. Sammi eventually learns to stand up for herself and there’s both pain and beauty in the way the play portrays the complexity of life, Yeates said.

“It has the drama and it has the humour,” she said. “I think it’s a piece that could make you laugh and could make you cry.”

Yeates said being the only one on stage, carrying an entire production, used to scare her more when she first started Knee Deep in Muck. She became more comfortable over time, and now she focuses on making each subsequent performance more interesting for herself and the audience.

“I love that I get to do these shows over and over because they become richer with each performance,” she said.

Plus, it’s “easy and cost effective” to take a one-person show on the road.

But don’t get the idea that Yeates is some kind of one-trick pony. She’s also acted extensively in film and TV, and she’s currently considering making a feature film version of Bye Bye Bombay.

Acting is in Yeates’s blood — she started performing in musicals in Grade 3 in her hometown of Victoria and performing is what she’s always wanted to do.

Despite a desire to focus on film in her future, Yeates didn’t rule out the possibility of yet another solo show. For now, she doesn’t know what the next project will be.

But she’s “honoured” to be back in Whistler for the second year of the Blank Slate Theatre Festival.

“I love that they’re doing edgy work,” she said. “It’s exciting to have a theatre festival that’s not just Shakespeare.”

Catch Cara Yeates in The Big Oops, plus Ethan Coen’s play Almost an Evening, at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre through Saturday (Sept. 4). Both shows run nightly and audience members can watch one for $20 or both for $35. Visit blankslatetheatre.ca for more info.