Just
in time for Halloween, we kicked off our new season with one of the
most-produced comedies in U. S. History, The Mystery of Irma
Vep, directed by Anthony Caselli. This outrageous spoof by Charles
Ludlam, the late founder of New York City's Ridiculous Theatrical
Company, was very well received.
The Mystery of Irma Vep is a campy tribute to Gothic horror films, liberally stealing from well-known film classics like Wuthering Heights, The Mummy's Curse and Alfred Hitchcock's Academy Award-winning Rebecca. Literary detectives will also recognize dialogue lifted from Ibsen, Shakespeare, Poe, the Brontës, Omar Khayyam, and Oscar Wilde.
Two actors play all of the play's eight characters, racing through a literal quick-change marathon complete with werewolves, vampires and damsels in distress. Combine all that with crazy plot twists (two characters travel from England to Egypt to inspect a mummy), and The Mystery of Irma Vep guarantees fun for everyone.
Written in 1984, The Mystery Irma Vep became the most popular of Ludlam's plays. It was named one of 1984's best plays by Time Magazine and The New York Times and won Drama Desk and Obie awards for both Ludlam and his partner, Everett Quinton. Though many doubted that the play would have appeal beyond the Ridiculous Theatrical Company and its original stars, it became one of the most-produced plays in the country, delighting audiences with non-stop action and demanding tour-de-force performances.
The two brave actors taking on the challenge of The Mystery of Irma Vep in the PRTC production were John Lepard and John Seibert. Their understudies, Matt Phenix and Tom Whalen, respectively, performed for some matinees.
Critics' Quotes
"Now in revival at Chelsea’s Purple Rose Theatre, (The Mystery of) Irma Vep still provokes laughter with its high-camp spoof of Gothic melodrama. It’s a virtuoso roller coaster for the two actors who play the eight roles in the cast list... Romping through this field are the marvelous John Seibert and John Lepard, familiar to Purple Rose audiences, verterans of regional theater and film as well... Irma is a howl." Joan Behrmann Purple Rose’s Irma Vep is
dead-on funny Jenn McKee Stage Whispers: Boogity Boogity Boo "...I can think of no better way to enjoy the tickle of shock than to see The Mystery of Irma Vep at The Purple Rose Theatre... The atmosphere is perfectly captured in the Purple Rose staging; an English manor house parlor, French doors facing an always foggy, storm-riddled manor, something howling just outside. I was howling too, at the performances of John Seibert and John Lepard, who play all eight characters in the show... Irma Vep is a non-stop carnival of damned funny." Sue Dise
"If the chief delight of comedy is to watch other people suffer, then it’s a feast seeing (John) Seibert and (John) Lepard scramble between roles with barely a moment to register who they are meant to be playing next... Seibert and Lepard are well cast. Watching Seibert purse his lips and squinny his eyes as a Mrs. Danvers look-alike who knows more than she can tell (wink-wink, nudge-nudge) is a treat. Lepard is also a delight, lurching around the set as a one-legged butler with the hots for Seibert’s housekeeper. An additional pleasure is picking up the literary references, from Shakespeare to Poe, sprinkled during the show. And if you’re a crossword fan, you’ll have fun with the name Irma Vep." Terry Pow 'Camp’ is
alive and well at The Purple Rose Theatre "John Seibert and John Lepard are outstanding, no matter which characters they’re playing. Seibert as Jane the maid is a demented Mrs. Doubtfire, while his proper Egyptologist Lord Edgar could have quite properly stepped out of The Mummy. Lanky Lepard is an absolute hoot as the shrinking violet Lady Enid, and his Nicodemus is a joyous parody of bad Scottish stereotypes. Director Anthony Caselli, who has done a magnificent job of bringing this all together, has absolutely recaptured the spirit of Camp culture. You can almost imagine the spirit of Charles Ludlam hovering over Chelsea, grinning like a jack-o-lantern." John Quinn Steve Daut |
Photos by Danna Segrest
Purple
Rose’s Irma Vep camps it up in Gothic style
"It
was a dark and stormy night. No, really. I’m not kidding.
On the opening night of The Purple Rose Theatre’s fantastic,
unrelentingly hilarious production of Charles Ludlam’s
spooky parody of The Mystery of Irma Vep, the rain
was falling hard outside – setting the mood for the show
so perfectly that one had to wonder if there’s anything
the technical team at the Rose can’t arrange... (John)
Lepard and (John) Seibert, who play all the roles (four each),
have a blast performing the show’s dizzying number of
lightning-fast costume/accent/gait/gender changes, and indeed,
much of the humor in the play’s earliest moments stems
from the audience’s awareness of, and comic wonder at,
the actors’ unusually precarious situation; it feels
equivalent to watching a theatrical high-wire act. But not
to worry; both Lepard and Seibert are terrific, camping up
their various roles... with unflagging energy... Tony Caselli’s
impressively sound direction provides the production with some
necessary structure, so that there’s indeed method in
all this fabulous, madcap madness. Now if I could just get
these guys to tell me how they actually made it rain..."
Purple
Rose comedy full of laughs
"This
is a fun, campy, family show that bursts the boundaries of
the stage, with such good humor and gentle fun it must surely
warm the air for miles around. I’m sure there’s
also a plot in there someplace, but don’t ask me to
describe it. It just doesn’t matter when you’re
laughing so hard your jaws hurt... the entire technical crew
of Irma Vep delivers a virtuoso performance. Sound,
lighting and action cues abound, and all aspects of the performance
are perfectly coordinated. Director Anthony Caselli has shown
his amazing facility with a variety of tricks and techniques,
demonstrating amazing strength and depth... You have to see
this play. You might want to watch it over and over again.
If it’s true that laughter keeps you young, you are
sure to shed years every time you watch PRTC’s production
of Irma Vep."