Axis Company will present an encore engagement of EAST 10TH STREET: SELF PORTRAIT WITH EMPTY HOUSE, a play by and about Downtown performance icon Edgar Oliver. Originally presented in November of 2008, this stark and enigmatic look at a life on the fringes of New York's Lower East Side was acclaimed by critics and embraced by record-breaking audiences at Axis. The production comes on the heels of what could be Oliver's breakthrough role in the upcoming film from Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess, Gentlemen Broncos, opposite Sam Rockwell as well as a national advertising campaign for mobile phones in Ireland that has also become a cult phenomenon. Directed by Randy Sharp, and presented on an Off-Broadway contract, performances of this limited engagement begin February 12.
In EAST 10TH STREET: SELF PORTRAIT WITH EMPTY HOUSE, long-standing, downtown theatre icon Edgar Oliver takes the audience on a fantastic voyage through the strange rooms of the apartment house where he has lived since his first years in New York. Inhabiting the dark, mysterious halls of an East Village tenement building are a dwarf Cabalist, a possible Nazi, the landlord's former wet nurse who apparently lives in a nest of rags, and many other memorable persons. Edgar leads the audience up to the final room, his own, at the top of the derelict stairs, wherein lie the secrets of his family and the unbelievable odyssey that brought him there. This incredible cast of characters illuminate the sad, funny, brilliant and uniquely New York story.
Georgia native Edgar Oliver started performing in New York at the Pyramid in the mid-1980's alongside artists including Hapi Phace, Kenbra Pfahler, Samoa and playwright Kestutis Nakas. As a playwright, many of Oliver's plays have been staged at La MaMa and other downtown NYC theatres, including The Seven Year Vacation, The Poetry Killer, Hands in Wartime, Motel Blue 19, and Mosquito Succulence. As a stage actor, he has performed in countless plays including Edward II with Cliplight Theater, Marc Palmieri's Carl the Second, Lipsynka's Dial M for Model, and numerous productions at Axis including A Glance at New York (Edinburgh Festival & NYC), Julius Caesar, USS Frankenstein, Hospital, and Seven in One Blow. Edgar is also one of the most beloved story tellers at The Moth. His film roles include That's Beautiful Frank, Henry May Long (directed by Axis' Randy Sharp) and Gentlemen Broncos. His published works include A Portrait of New York by a Wanderer There, Summer, and The Man Who Loved Plants.
The production features lighting design by David Zeffren and sound design by Steve Fontaine.
Through the careful utilization of various media, Axis Company has produced an eclectic series of original and published plays with highly advanced, state of the art technological components that enhance the internal meaning of the material. Past productions include Buchner's Woyzeck, Beckett's Play, Benjamin Baker's 1848 sensation A Glance at New York and the U.S. premiere of Sarah Kane's Crave, starring Deborah Harry, in addition to numerous original works.
EAST 10TH STREET: SELF PORTRAIT WITH EMPTY HOUSE runs February 12-28, Thursday - Saturday at 8pm. Axis Theatre is located at One Sheridan Square (just off 7th Avenue, accessible from the 1/9 train at Sheridan Square). Tickets are $20 for Adults and $15 for Seniors/Students, available at 212-352-3101 or www.AxisCompany.org.
