In the Park
Written & Performed by Edgar Oliver
Directed by Randy Sharp
May 8 - June 7, 2014Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm
Additional performances on Monday, May 12 at 8pm and Wednesday, May 14 at 8pm; No Performance on Saturday, May 17
Adults $40 Seniors/Students $30
As Edgar Oliver wanders through Prospect Park he guides his audience to hidden landscapes few have seen but he also reveals his innermost longings and regrets. In this most personal of Edgar's monologues, he maps his deepest memories of childhood and experience. In the Park is a journey of loss and hope, joy and sadness, along tangled paths to the fascinating place that is Edgar's heart.
As a stage actor Edgar Oliver has performed in countless plays including Edward II with Cliplight Theater; Marc Palmieri's Carl the Second; Kestutis Nakas' When Lithuania Ruled the World and numerous productions at Axis Theatre including A Glance at New York (Edinburgh Festival Fringe & NYC), Julius Caesar; USS Frankenstein and the Hospital series. His one-man show East 10th Street has performed in Edinburgh (Fringe First Award), Charleston, SC (Spoleto Festival) and in New York City (Axis and PS122). Edgar performed his latest one-man show, Helen and Edgar (directed by Catherine Burns of The Moth), at Theatre 80 St. Marks, Dartmouth College, Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA and most recently at the Public Theatre as part of the Under the Radar Festival. His film roles include That's Beautiful Frank; Henry May Long (directed by Axis' Randy Sharp) and Gentlemen Broncos (directed by Jared Hess). Edgar is also the host of the television show, Odd Folks Home, on The Science Channel.
As a stage actor Edgar Oliver has performed in countless plays including Edward II with Cliplight Theater; Marc Palmieri's Carl the Second; Kestutis Nakas' When Lithuania Ruled the World and numerous productions at Axis Theatre including A Glance at New York (Edinburgh Festival Fringe & NYC), Julius Caesar; USS Frankenstein and the Hospital series. His one-man show East 10th Street has performed in Edinburgh (Fringe First Award), Charleston, SC (Spoleto Festival) and in New York City (Axis and PS122). Edgar performed his latest one-man show, Helen and Edgar (directed by Catherine Burns of The Moth), at Theatre 80 St. Marks, Dartmouth College, Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA and most recently at the Public Theatre as part of the Under the Radar Festival. His film roles include That's Beautiful Frank; Henry May Long (directed by Axis' Randy Sharp) and Gentlemen Broncos (directed by Jared Hess). Edgar is also the host of the television show, Odd Folks Home, on The Science Channel.
stage manager: Regina Betancourt
asst. stage manager: Edward Terhune
light designer: David Zeffren
original music: Paul Carbonara
sound designer: Steve Fontaine
lead carpentry: Chad Yarborough
set crew: Mikey BajorMargo, Oscar Krol
website & graphic designer/poster photograph: Ethan Crenson
publicity/PR: Blake Zidell & Assoc.
photographer: Dixie Sheridan
box office managers: Stephanie Regina, Erik Savage
AXIS COMPANY
Artistic Director - Randy Sharp
Producing Director - Brian Barnhart
Executive Producer - Jeffrey Resnick
Running time is approximately one hour. There is no intermission.
This production was made possible in part by a generous grant from the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.
This production was made possible in part by a generous grant from the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.
“...emotionally grand work ... 'In the Park' (respectfully directed by Randy Sharp), is so beautiful—so enthralling in its undisguised but never tedious self-absorption, in its command of the spoken word, and in its demand for love—that to remain unmoved by it, or to dismiss it as fairy folderol, begs the question: Why? ... (it is) an enormous leap into autobiographical brilliance ... 'In the Park' is a love story about moments and sensations...”
—Hilton Als
“Mr. Oliver will put you in mind of the macabre. He has a tendency to turn even the most banal event... into something out of Edgar Allan Poe ... this piece finds the spooky, the eerie, the unsettling in a walk in the park.”
“(Oliver's) performance is a joyous ode to melancholy and solitude ... startlingly beautiful ... 'In the Park' celebrates Oliver's love of the natural world and the profound pleasures he finds in a life of solitary contemplation ... The New York theater scene is richer for small, meditative, verbally textured pieces like this.”
“'In the Park' manically enchants with gruesome, erotic brevity ... what makes this Walser-esque daisy chain of pastoral vignettes cohere is Oliver's perverse enthusiasm ... the monologue's lyricism makes all his obsessions seem equally compelling...”
“I could not help but be reminded of another Brooklyn artist ... Walt Whitman ... poignant ... the artist himself has disrobed emotionally and metaphorically before us ... a memorable evening well spent.”
—The White Rhino Report
“Edgar Oliver's Wanderings in the Park”
—Culturadar
