Edgar Oliver, Onstage & Off

Playwright, poet, and performer Edgar Oliver, known to followers of The Moth, La MaMa, Pyramid Club, and many other of downtown's more adventurous performance spaces and theaters, journeys through his personal history and future dreams with Pete McCabe. Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Edgar Oliver has lived and worked in New York City since 1977. He is a poet, playwright, and actor, and storyteller, who has been active in New York's downtown theatre and performing arts community since the early 1980s. He is also one of the most beloved storytellers of the acclaimed storytelling organization The Moth. The Moth's George Dawes Green has described him as "the world's greatest living raconteur." His plays, many of which were produced at La MaMa and in which he also performed as a stage actor, include The Drowning Pages, Hands in Wartime, The Ghost of Brooklyn, The Lost Bedroom, Motel Blue 19, Mosquito Succulence, The Poetry Killer, and The Seven Year Vacation. Edgar has also been a sought-after actor in myriad other plays, most notably with the Axis Theatre Company under the direction of Randy Sharp. Among his most important achievements are three acclaimed one-man shows: East 10th Street: Self Portrait with Empty House (directed by Randy Sharp); Helen & Edgar (directed by The Moth's Catherine Burns); and most recently, In the Park (also directed by Randy Sharp). Edgar has produced four collections of poetry, most recently, The Puddle Boy, published by Oilcan Press. He has also written a novel titled The Man Who Loved Plants. In collaboration with Oilcan Press and the members of the Brooklyn-based band The Octave Doktors, he has produced an album of poetry and monologues called Desire & the Sea, which is based on material presented at a live performance at Coney Island.

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