Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
October 18, 2009
The Mystery of Irma Vep
We’re on the eve of a sold out closing weekend of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and while the actors are about to take their Tylenol Cold and muscle through the final performances of the show, here off the stage we’ve already shifted our focus to the second show of the season: THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP by Charles Ludlam.
A little introduction. Before I started at Court Theatre over the summer, I had never heard of Charles Ludlam, much less The Mystery of Irma Vep, and I was at best pretty agnostic about whatever this play was. Since I sat down in June to actually read it for the first time, however, the The Mystery of Irma Vep has fought and chewed its way to the top of my brain, such that Irma Vep is now The Play I Absolutely Cannot Wait to See in the 2009-10 season. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the work, like I was, this is what you
should know.
The Mystery of Irma Vep is a “penny dreadful,” a comedy that borrows from Victorian melodrama, Doylian mystery, German expressionist film, Universal monster movies, and innumerable classical sources to tell the sordid tale of the Mandercrest Estate, where Lady Enid is haunted by the vengeful spirit of her new husband Lord Edgar’s former wife, Lady Irma Vep. The servants Nicodemus Underwood and Jane Twisden initiate Lady Enid into the regrettable past of Irma Vep, her and Edgar’s dead son Victor, and a mysterious killer wolf that roams the moors. Add in a vampire, a werewolf, and an Egyptian mummy, simmer for ninety minutes in heavy camp, and already you have an absurd farce unlike anything that’s ever been seen on Court’s stage.
But here’s what really makes The Mystery of Irma Vep extraordinary: all 6+ characters in the plays are performed by strictly two actors. This isn’t just a case of creative double-casting. Ludlam engineered the play such that characters enter and exit at a rapid rate, meaning that actors must not only keep tabs on which character they’re portraying, but they must execute impossible costume changes within a matter of seconds. The skill demanded to perform this play, therefore, is not only artistic but athletic. You see, therefore, why I Cannot Wait to See This Show. Our two actors, Chris “Sully” Sullivan and Erik “You Saw Him in Arcadia, Remember?” Hellman, were hilarious at our first reading of the play, but they certainly have their work cut out for them to get this play ready by November 12. We’re also ecstatic that Sean Graney, visionary director and man’s-man-lady’s-man-man-about-town, is back at Court Theatre to direct Charles Ludlam’s magnum opus.
I’ll be back later to share some more information about Charles Ludlam, the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, and The Mystery of Irma Vep, including a daily look into the myriad sources that are bricolaged in the play. Check this blog early and often as we gear up for opening night!
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