THE HANGOVER REPORT – In the refreshingly amiable RIP TIDE, Edgar Oliver fondly conjures his younger self vis-à-vis the Pyramid Club

Edgar Oliver in Axis Company’s production of “Rip Tide” (photo by Regina Betancourt).

Last night, I had the opportunity to catch up with Edgar Oliver’s Rip Tide, which is currently wrapping up performances at Axis Company in the West Village (the final performance is this Saturday). Written and performed by Oliver — with the aid of a trio of live musicians (original music by Paul Carbonara) — the play represents the latest in the line of the downtown monologist’s string of atmospheric theatrical memoirs (e.g., Helen & Edgar, Attorney Street, 10th Street, In the Park), most of which have been concocted in association with Axis Company.

Ever the master storyteller, Oliver’s latest poetically depicts his younger self during his very earliest days in New York, particularly vis-à-vis the legendary Pyramid Club (an iconic queer East Village nightclub, a hot spot during the 1980s). As with his previous works, Oliver paints — through his singularly queer, off-kilter lens — a spectral portrait of a New York of yore, conjuring for audiences the ghosts that roam his vivid memories (just in time for Halloween!). Oliver has always possessed a distinctively gothic aesthetic, existing at once in both the past and the present — and haunting both temporal realms with his deadpan yet sweetly boyish gaze.

But what differentiates Rip Tide — directed with razor sharp focus by Randall Sharp — from his previous outings is the refreshingly jovial and amiable way (at least relatively speaking) he looks back at his own innocence and budding sexuality. Indeed, his touching and at times amusing stories of his formative time at the Pyramid Club (complete with drag queens and the like) are fondly and wistfully remembered — far less melancholy and anxiety-ridden than other works of his I’ve seen. This is Oliver at his most upbeat.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

RIP TIDE
Off-Broadway, Play
Axis Company
1 hour (without an intermission)
Through October 28

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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