Oliver Mayer facts for kids

Oliver Mayer is an American writer who creates plays, books, and screenplays. He is also a professor at the University of Southern California. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, actress Marlene Forte.

Oliver Mayer is known for his plays like Blade to the Heat, Members Only, and Yerma in the Desert. His works often explore important social issues and fairness for all people. He has also written operas with composers David Conte and Jenni Brandon. Besides his theater work, Oliver Mayer is a published poet. He also co-wrote a children's book called Big Dog on Campus with Patricia Rae.

Oliver Mayer's Early Life and Career

Oliver Mayer was born in Hollywood, California. His parents were Gloria and Alexander A. Mayer. His father, Alexander, worked as an Art director for Universal Studios for over 20 years. His mother, a Mexican American, worked in nursing. She encouraged his interest in theater from a young age.

When Oliver was 13, in 1978, he saw the play Zoot Suit. This play really inspired him to become a playwright. During his childhood, Oliver faced bullying. He started boxing lessons at age 13 to help him cope. He continued boxing until he was 17.

He later studied English and music at Cornell University. He spent a year studying abroad at the University of Oxford in England. This experience inspired him to get a special degree called a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting from Columbia University.

Oliver Mayer's first play was produced in 1985 when he was 20. After college, he moved back to Los Angeles in 1989. In 2003, he joined the faculty at the University of Southern California. He later became a tenured professor, which means he has a permanent teaching position.

Playwright and screenwriter Jose Rivera has praised Oliver Mayer. He called him "A great writer with powerful dialogue." Rivera also noted that Mayer helps others as an educator and a Latino who stays true to his heritage.

Oliver Mayer's Important Plays

Yerma in the Desert

Yerma in the Desert is one of Oliver Mayer's more recent plays. It first showed in Los Angeles in November 2017. The story is about a woman named Yerma. She is in a marriage without love because she wants to have children.

The play talks about gender equality (fairness between men and women) in jobs. It also explores LGBTQ themes and issues of deportation in the United States. Yerma in the Desert updates the message of an older play called Yerma by Federico García Lorca. Mayer's version takes place at a university and focuses on the people who work there to keep it clean.

Blade to the Heat and Members Only

Blade to the Heat is one of Mayer's most famous plays. It is about two boxers, Pedro Quinn (Mexican American) and Mantequilla Decima (Cuban). The play first opened in New York in 1994. It later premiered on the West Coast in Los Angeles in 1996. The play is set in the late 1950s. It explores important topics in the world of boxing and challenges faced by Latinx people. It also draws on Mayer's own experiences with boxing as a teenager.

Members Only is the sequel to Blade to the Heat. It took over six years to create and opened in October 2018. This play is set in 1982. It follows the characters from the first play as they try to find their place in the world. This happens at the start of the AIDs pandemic. Many well-known actors have performed in these plays, including Colman Domingo, Wayne Brady, Justina Machado, and Marlene Forte.

3 Paderewskis and America Tropical

3 Paderewskis is an opera that won the American Prize for new opera in 2019. It was created by composer Jenni Brandon with Oliver Mayer writing the story (called a libretto). The opera tells the life story of Ignace Jan Paderewski. He was a Polish pianist, composer, politician, and winemaker. It was first performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. It was also performed in Poznań, Poland.

America Tropical is another opera with music by David Conte and Mayer's libretto. It tells the story of a mural called América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos. This mural was painted in Los Angeles in 1932 by Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros. The opera shows how the mural was created and later covered up (whitewashed). It connects the mural's message about race, ethnicity, and class to the founding of Los Angeles and the Rodney King beating in 1991. Even though the mural was hidden, its powerful images and call for action still shine through. It first premiered in San Francisco in 2007.