Rip Tide
Axis Theatre Company
Axis Theatre, 1 Sheridan Square
runs October 4–28, 2023; Wed-Sat at 8
for tickets (free-$40), visit Axis
Directed by Axis Theatre Company founder Randall Sharp, Rip Tide, a new play written and performed by Edgar Oliver, takes audiences back to where it all began for the New York City icon.
For 15 years, Axis has served as an incubator and theatrical home for the beloved performer, poet, and storyteller Edgar Oliver, a fixture of the New York downtown scene for over four decades. In deep collaboration with Mr. Sharp, Edgar has created a body of work that Hilton Als of The New Yorker has described as “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.”
But how did Edgar begin his epic life as a performer?
When he was twenty-three, Edgar found The Pyramid Club. This long-gone ghost of Avenue A became a home for all artists and outcasts, and the first stage Edgar ever performed on in the city. In the dark recesses of this magic theater, Edgar found the voice that brought all the sorrow and glory, the solitude and companionship of his early life into the hearts of his audience. The Pyramid Club created the beautiful, heart-broken, and triumphant person he is today.
Rip Tide features original music performed live by former Blondie member Paul Carbonara that mirrors the strange and complex world of The Pyramid Club and Edgar’s place in it.
Edgar Oliver (Regina Betancourt)
Edgar Oliver (writer and performer) is an Axis Company member. As a stage actor, he 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 including A Glance at New York (Edinburgh Festival Fringe & NYC); Julius Caesar; USS Frankenstein; the Hospital series and his critically acclaimed solo show In the Park. His first solo show East 10th Street, directed by Randall Sharp, has performed in Edinburgh (Fringe First Award); Charleston, SC (Spoleto Festival) and in New York City (Axis and PS122). His critically acclaimed solo shows In the Park, Attorney Street, and VICTOR were also performed at Axis and directed by Randall Sharp. His show, Helen and Edgar (directed by Catherine Burns of The Moth), performed at Theatre 80 St. Marks, Dartmouth College, Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA and at The Public Theatre as part of the Under the Radar Festival. Edgar wrote and performed London Paris (again directed by Sharp), which was commissioned and performed at La MaMa. His film roles include That’s Beautiful Frank; Henry May Long (directed by Axis’ Randall Sharp) and Gentlemen Broncos (directed by Jared Hess). Handmade, limited-edition collections of Edgar’s writings are available from Oilcan Press – oilcanpress.com
Randall Sharp (director) is Axis Theatre Company’s founder and Artistic Director. Her plays include the Drama Desk Award-nominated Last Man Club (published by DPS), Washington Square (soon to be published by TRW), Worlds Fair Inn, Nothing on Earth, Down There, Seven in One Blow (published by DPS and performed every December in NYC and around the country) and the long-running serial Hospital. Sharp wrote and directed The Vast Machine (2015) and co-wrote (with former Blondie member Paul Carbonara) and directed Solitary Light (2014) and Evening – 1910, which premiered to acclaim at Axis in 2016. Sharp’s directing credits also include Last Man Club; Nothing on Earth; Down There; Seven in One Blow; Hospital; Edgar Oliver’s New York Trilogy (including East 10th Street: Self Portrait with Empty House, winner of the Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Fringe, In the Park, and Attorney Street) and London Paris; A Glance at New York (Edinburgh Fringe & NYC), Julius Caesar; and the U.S premiere of Sarah Kane’s Crave, starring Deborah Harry. She also directed the feature film Henry May Long, winner of 13 international awards, and is the host of the popular YouTube cooking show “Dinner Party Tonight.”
Paul Carbonara (music) was born in Greenwich Village and has been a performing musician for 30 years. He was the guitarist and musical director for the seminal pop band Blondie from 1997 through 2010. Carbonara has performed with Ray Davies, Coolio, Jose Carreras, and Chubby Checker, among others, and was the guitarist for the New York art rock band Giant Metal Insects in the 1990s. He has composed music for three independent movie soundtracks, including Randall Sharp’s Henry May Long and Jyllian Gunther’s Pull Out. He has composed commercial jingles for Nickelodeon, SBLI, and Waterworks. Paul composed music for the noted choreographer Robert Moses’ work Faith and Fable, presented at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. Carbonara performs and records with his own band The Mudlarks. He has also toured much of the world with the Mary McBride Band since 2010, traveling to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. He is a graduate of NYU and studied with the noted jazz guitarist Sal Salvador.
