Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
October 20, 2009
Mystery Allusion #1
Charles Ludlam’s knowledge of literature was formidable, and he peppered The Mystery of Irma Vep with canny allusions. Starting today, we’re going to feature several of those allusions every week until the opening of The Mystery of Irma Vep. Today’s selection is:
GHOSTS: a play by Henrik Ibsen
BACKGROUND: First performed in 1882, Ghosts is Henrik Ibsen’s commentary on nineteenth-century morality, full of buried secrets, hereditary philandering, and syphilitic madness.
THE ALLUSION: Remarkably, Ludlam begins Irma Vep by paraphrasing the first three lines of Ghosts. Observe the comparison:
| THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP | GHOSTS |
| Jane: Watch what you’re doing! You’re soaking wet! Don’t track mud in here! | Regina: What do you want? Stay where you are, you’re dripping wet! |
| Nicodemus: It’s God’s good rain, my girl! | Engstrand: It’s God’s good rain, my girl. |
| Jane: It’s the devil’s rain, that’s what it is! | Regina: It’s the devil’s rain, that’s what it is! |
