When the night is dark and stormy, or the mist is rising on the moors under a full moon; when there are macabre stirrings in the tomb, or the unearthly howling of laughter from audience members - it must be the season for THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP, Charles Ludlam's ribald sendup of gothic romance and horror that begins preview next Wednesday, October 12, opens October 15, and continues through November 6 at Rubicon Theatre Company.
Rubicon veterans JOSEPH FUQUA and Jamie Torcellini return to RTC in Ludlam's madcap pas de deux, penny dreadful, quick change farce, directed by Artistic Associate Jenny Sullivan. Between them, they take on such characters as Lord and Lady Hillcrest, the servants Nicodemus Underwood and Jane Twisden, Irma Vep (the late Lady Hillcrest), Alcazar the Egyptian guide, Princess Pev Amri (an Egyptian mummy), a vampiric intruder, a werewolf, a specter, and perhaps even more before the curtain falls. Ludlam's two-act play is a satire of several theatrical and film genres, including Victorian melodrama, Gothic romance, farce and the Alfred Hitchcock film "Rebecca" (1940).
First produced by Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company in a 1984 off-off Broadway run in Greenwich Village, the show enjoyed an award-winning off-Broadway revival at The Westside Theatre. There's drama, passion, outrageous costumes, a set with nice draperies, and big belly laughs in this hilarious Halloween show.
THE DREADFUL TALE:
Things aren't going so well for Lady Enid Hillcrest, recently wed to Lord Edgar Hillcrest of Mandacrest Manor. Something is amiss in the remote manor on the heath; between a rogue wolf that's on the loose attacking hapless folk, and visitations in the dark of night by strange specters, to say nothing of the looming presence of the late - but very present - Lady Hillcrest, aka Irma Vep, Lady Enid is stressed out, and if truth be told, isn't quite feeling herself. To make matters worse, the maid is utterly devoted to the memory of her former mistress - as seems to be Lord Edgar - and finally, Nicodemus, the swineherd and grounds man, has a pesky and recurring problem with the moon.
Lord Edgar has an idea that Egyptology could help shed light, and subsequently dallies with a mummi?ed princess; he dare not mention the word vampire, even as he can't dismiss the dark and bloody evidence that plagues his manse. All in all, Ludlam's "penny dreadful" tale pokes fun at gothic horror, gothic romance and stage melodrama in a fell swoop sendup in which nothing is sacred and two actors blaze through a dizzying array of costume changes, hell-bent on solving the Mystery of Irma Vep!
Playwright Charles Ludlam termed the play a "penny dreadful," taking his cue from a type of fiction publication in 19th century Britain that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part retailed for a penny. Printed on cheap stock, the tales were intended as a common-man's alternative to the pricey fare of the likes of Dickens, whose publications ran upwards of a shilling.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Charles Ludlam (1943-1987) was a New York actor, director and playwright, once described by The New Yorker as "...one of our nation's most prolific artists, whose inspiration for his productions-precursors of some of today's performance art-
came from B movies, penny dreadfuls, opera, and his own sense of glee when it came to making manic spectacles."
Ludlam worked out of the Ridiculous Theatre Company, which he founded in 1967, penning dozens of plays from a perspective sharply skewed to the irreverent. With IRMA VEP, he had his first runaway hit, which he took on the road and for which he found an enthusiastic audience. Asked to explain the intent behind the Ridiculous in a 1978 interview, Ludlam explained, "It has to do with humor and unhinging the pretensions of serious art. It takes what is worthless and transforms it to high art." He also noted, "I sometimes think that the Ridiculous is the only serious theatre. After all, everywhere you look in this world there's something that's ridiculous. It's important to help people see that. I often think all theatre is ridiculous, but we're not always willing to admit it."
Ludlam stipulated in his rights agreement that THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP must be performed by two same-sex actors, intending that cross-dressing underscore the melodrama's farcical tone. The piece includes upwards of thirty-five breakneck costume changes, and a dizzying array of entrances, exits and plot twists not for the faint-hearted stage manager.
By 1991, THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP had become the most-produced play in the United States, solidifying Ludlam's place in the international repertoire, though the playwright would not live to see it, felled at the age of 44 by complications related to AIDS.
