On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning

by Eric Overmyer

Among the most imaginative works of the 20th century, Eric Overmyer's ON THE VERGE OR THE GEOGRAPHY OF LEARNING captivates with its abundant invention. Three Victorian lady travelers take it upon themselves to discover the mystery of things as they set out for Terra Incognita and discover the future. "Cross the wordplay of S J Perelman with the world-in-a-time-warp vision of Caryl Churchill and you might approximate the special flavor of ON THE VERGE. In Eric Overmyer's chimerical new comedy, three Victorian lady explorers set out on an adventure that takes them to darkest Africa, highest Himalaya and Terra Incognita ... Blending Tom Stoppard's limber linguistics with the historic overview of a Thornton Wilder, Mr Overmyer takes his audience on a mirthful safari ... spinning into time travel. Three 'sister sojourners', each a prototypical Victorian lady explorer, equipped with dialog as pithy as their helmets, thwack their machetes through the wilderness while telling tales of past jaunts among the natives. As intrepid trekkers, they put the lie to any charge that they are representatives of a weaker sex. Mr Overmyer has written a play that is joyfully feminist. Heroines to their heart, the explorers can accommodate themselves to any emergency (natural or man-made), although they are momentarily disoriented as they approach modern times. In their kaleidoscopic adventure, they journey through a rain forest of hundreds of artifacts from the future - household utensils, mechanical contrivances and a side-view automobile mirror that reads 'Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear.' How does one deal with such a chimera? ... In the play there is wit within the palaver. As one traveler says, 'I have seen the future and it is slang.' The author himself is an ecologist of language and a shrewd observer of our quest to control our environment - and the environment of others ... A frolicsome jaunt through a continuum of space, time, history, geography, feminism and fashion, Mr Overmyer's cavalcade is on the verge of becoming a thoroughly serendipitous journey." -Mel Gussow, The New York Times

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Time Travel, Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy

94 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1986

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Tena Edlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

By far, the weirdest play I've ever been in, but I love the language so much. Andrew and I were talking about it, and I really wanted to read it again. I think I performed it in 1999 or 2000, and I still remembered some of the lines. "Ooo oww natterblast! Savage sour Liechtenstein!"

[Natalie Couture · Rating 3 out of 5]

zany, zany, zany! the scene with Mr. Coffee now on my acting wishlist

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sort of ORLANDO spin off, Eric Overmyer's signature work has an exciting premise and three excellent protagonists, its one flaw is a kind of underwhelming climax, though the ending is poignant and fitting. Somehow it seems rather dismissive, however, for poor Alex and Fanny to simply end up married off, though of course it could be in part because their relationships feel so… unlikely. Not that anything in the play is particularly likely, it's all quite absurd and fantastical. But the relationships between the three women are so well drawn, one wishes the same could be said between them and their men, so that we could feel like the choices Fanny and Alex make are ones they make, and are not just written into. Still, Overmyer creates a fascinating and whimsical world where anything can happen, time and place have no meaning, and the sheer theatricality and originally of the work make it seem as fresh as its feminist and social commentary once felt.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 1 out of 5]

As three 19th century female explorers probe unexplored lands, a 20th century playwright also probes unexplored territory, disappearing further up his own backside than almost any playwright before or since. I haven't the faintest idea what this play was about, and the references are dated and parochially American (do even Americans remember 'I like Ike' badges any more?).

The play has been praised for its wordplay, but simply using 50s slang and then saying '…whatever that means' is hardly the height of poetic wit.

[John Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

ON THE VERGE is a beautiful trip through time on poetic language and silly humor. It's an acid trip for historians. It is an amazing theatrical experience. I've lit the show in the past. Now I want to direct it.

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Osmote it yourself how good the dialogue is in this play.

[Cary S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I respect the craft that went into the writing enormously. That said, this isn't my kind of theater...

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend gave me a bunch of plays to read with a view towards perhaps directing one of them. This was one of the plays. It was fun and clever and I definitely hope to encounter it again in some capacity.

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the whole thing and have no idea what any of that was about.

[Gwendolyn Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't wait to memorize it🫠

[Kelley McAndrews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird. Not for me.

[Jim Robles · Rating 4 out of 5]

We saw, and thoroughly enjoyed, this play (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_V...) years ago at the Bath House Theater, on Green Lake in Seattle, while Arne Zaslove was the artistic director. I have been exploring some themes in which walking serves as a metaphor for how we go through life, and it occurred to me that this dimly remembered play, in which three American Victorian women trek from Africa in the 1888 to America in the 1950s might be helpful.

The (Characters & Setting) "Grover, Alphonse, et al, are played by a single actor" reminds me of Sophocles Philoctetes in which a single actor plays the part of Odysseus and Heracles, raising - at least for me - the question of was it rally Heracles or was it Odysseus impersonating Heracles?

In this case: "Along the way, they encounter different men, who is actually the same man in disguise…he’s sort of a devilish character who knows all…..It’s a deeply hidden device, as I spoke with three other cast members that had done the show elsewhere, but they didn’t pick up on it…and I sensed it….I spoke with the playwright, and he concurred." (Arne Zaslove, personal communication, February 20, 2015)

There are people (see Robert Randall) who do not love this play. I do think it is terrific. I enjoyed it when I saw it, and am happy to have recovered it.

The sixteenth book I have finished this year.

p. 6. MARY: That's not science dear. That's engineering. . . . .

p. 20. MARY: Nothing to be alarmed about. Cannibals are perfectly rational human beings.

FANNY: You are a liberal, Mary.

p. 38. MARY: I feel a sea change coming over me. . . . I have a growing premonition we are about to pierce the membrane.

p. 40. MARY: Why is there evil in the world, Alexandra?

ALEX: To thicken the plot.

That actually seems like a pretty good answer.

p. 40 - 41. MARY: . . . . I believe, . . . , we are advancing through the wilderness of time as well as space. . . . .

p. 48. FANNY: . . . . I am quite certain you would adore "The National Review," Grover. I do. It is the sole thing I've discovered so far in the future which reminds me of the nineteenth century.

p. 58. MADAME NHU: . . . . Praise your wife, even if it frightens her. . . . A new diet or exercise program can be unusually beneficial for you now. . . . Read more fine books and better magazines. Avoid fried foods, . . . .

p. 80. Perhaps we were meant to be solo sojourners after all.

[Sab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three Victorian-era pith-helmet clad women set out to explore Terra Incognita, a fictional unexplored landscape where they encounter strange characters and in which strange artifacts (an eggbeater, a gas station) appear from the future. As the women move through space and time they champion the spirit of the inveterate trekker, with a decidedly feminist agenda. Mary, Fanny and Alexandra, three very different Victorian "ladies," hack away with their machetes and tromp through Terra Incognita, telling tales of their past adventures around campfires, eating strange foods, meeting fascinating people, and absorbing everything, past, present and future, in their wake.

Overmyer, now a well-known TV and movie writer, is a master of witty wordplay and the unspooling of a delightful, woman-centric adventure, and this is a quick and delicious read. I had the pleasure of seeing it staged when I was fifteen or sixteen, and have loved it ever since.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

1/13/12
Rambles that I wrote after reading this:

An easy 4.5

It starts a bit slow but I loved this. Looking up the words I didn't know made even more hilarious. I love how the vernacular changed as they went forward in time. I love language so the fact that vocabulary was used so skillfully was grand. The characters themselves are so distinct and developed which is often hard to portray in a play format.

I can't wait to see this performed but I'm almost afraid it won't live up to my expectations. I loved it a lot more than I expected to.


2/27/12
***
After seeing the play performed, I think I love it even more. The physical humor written in is hilarious. The lines are fabulous. It's such a witty, well-written play. Characters like the dragon lady and the yeti were so perfect.

[Trin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended by Sab, a play about three Victorian women explorers who set out to explore Terra incognita and end up traveling forward in time. I really enjoyed Overmyer's use and fun manipulations of language, and the slightly skewed perspective on two different eras (1880s and 1950s). The sad truth is, though, I'm not the best reader of plays. I have a hard time engaging with them as I do novels or short stories, or even film. Still, despite that fault (in myself) I enjoyed this. Which speaks very highly of it, I think.

[Laurel Krahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saw a production of this three times at the Guthrie Theater and another couple in college. Eric Overmyer is one of my favorite writers and producers of TV; for years I didn't connect him with this play, which I love and which is not at all like his TV work.

If you enjoy wordplay and pop culture or just wordplay and pith helmets, um, you've gotta check this out. I believe the first three scenes are available online at one of the places where you can purchase the play if you need a taste, there are also a bunch of quotes at Wikiquote.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the play I chose to direct as my Masters project. I chose it because of the really exquisite language, the whimsy and pathos of the plot and the characters whom I loved. To journey not just through geography but through time ... it's what we all do right? But these ladies have the chance to explore decades that would normally be so far out of their reach.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertainingly intelligent play. Three 19th century female explorers find themselves in Terra Incognita, a place on the verge of time. They realize as they travel, the artifacts they discover are from the future. The style and central idea is reminiscent of Tom Stoppard. A thoroughly enjoyable play for 3 women and one man.

[Alyse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps I will learn to appreicate this play more as I understudy the role of Fanny. But initally, it is just a lot of words I don't understand. I am terribly interested to see how it is staged...and how I will perform in it...

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this play really engaging. The language is brilliant - in fact, in many ways it is the whole point of the piece. I would love to see a staged performance.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've chosen this for one of the plays we'll include in the Winter Readers Theater Series. I like the quirkiness of the plot and characters very much!

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throw in another half star. This land is your land, this land is definitely my land! Travellin' with these chicks through Time is the way to go.