''The Mystery of Irma Vep'' is a play in three acts by Charles Ludlam. It is a satire of several theatrical, literary and

film genre A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film. Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre cri ...

s, including Victorian

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

, the

penny dreadful Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...

, ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...

'' and the

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

film ''

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

'' (1940). The title is the name of a character in the 1915 French movie serial ''

Les Vampires ''Les Vampires'' is a 1915–16 French silent crime serial film written and directed by Louis Feuillade. Set in Paris, it stars Édouard Mathé, Musidora and Marcel Lévesque. The main characters are a journalist and his friend who become invol ...

'' and is an anagram for the word "vampire." The piece premiered

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in 1984 and was revived frequently with numerous productions in the US and internationally.

Background

The play is written for two actors who, between them, play eight characters of both sexes. In order to ensure

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

, licenses to perform the play include a stipulation that the actors must be of the same sex. The show requires a large number of sound cues, props, special effects and quick costume changes. Some 35 costume changes take place in the course of the two-hour show. The comedy includes references to (or appearances by) vampires, ghosts, mummies and werewolves. It contains the occasional jibe of an adult nature, but is largely acceptable for younger audiences. It is played in camp style. Ludlam said, however, "Our slant was actually to take things very seriously, especially focusing on those ''things held in low esteem by society'' and revaluing them, giving them new meaning, new worth, by changing their context". Ludlam "twinned an ironic deconstruction of the horror genre with a high-camp celebration of it."

Productions

''The Mystery of Irma Vep'' was first produced by Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company, opening

off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the prof ...

in New York City's

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

in September 1984 and closing in April 1986. It starred Ludlam as Lady Enid, the new mistress of the manor, and a butler, and Everett Quinton (Ludlam's lover) as Lord Edgar Hillcrest, the master of the manor, and the housekeeper (among other characters). The "Cast and Crew" won a Special

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

. Ludlam and Quinton won the 1985

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

for Ensemble Performance. The show was later produced

at the

Westside Theatre The Westside Theatre is an off-Broadway performance space at 407 West 43rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building houses two auditoriums: the Upstairs Theatre, which s ...

from September 1998 through July 1999, with Quinton and Stephen DeRosa. The production won the 1999

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

for Outstanding Revival, along with

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

nominations for Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Set Design (

John Lee Beatty John Lee Beatty is an American scenic designer who has created set designs for more than 115 Broadway shows and has designed for other productions. He won two Tony Awards, for ''Talley's Folly'' (1980) and ''The Nance'' (2013), was nominated for ...

), and Outstanding Costume Design (

William Ivey Long William Ivey Long (born August 30, 1947) is an American costume designer for stage and film. His most notable work includes the Broadway shows '' The Producers'', '' Hairspray'', ''Nine'', '' Crazy for You'', ''Grey Gardens'', ''Young Frankenstein ...

). In 1991, ''Irma Vep'' was the most produced play in the United States, and in 2003, it became the longest-running play ever produced in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It was produced in the West End in London in 1990 at the Ambassadors Theatre, after a season at

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

, starring

Edward Hibbert Edward Hibbert (born 9 September 1955) is an American-born British actor and literary agent. He played Gil Chesterton in the TV series ''Frasier''. He also voiced Zazu in both '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' and ''The Lion King 1½''. Ear ...

and

Nickolas Grace Nickolas Andrew Halliwell Grace (born 21 November 1947) is an English actor known for his roles on television, including Anthony Blanche in the acclaimed ITV adaptation of ''Brideshead Revisited'', and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1980s seri ...

. Another New York City production ran at the

Lucille Lortel Theatre The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unch ...

in 2014.''The Mystery of Irma Vep – A Penny Dreadful''
Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed June 11, 2017

Synopsis

Mandacrest Estate is the home of Lord Edgar, an Egyptologist, and Lady Enid. Lady Enid is Lord Edgar's second wife, though he has yet to recover entirely from the passing of his first wife, Irma Vep. The house staff, a maid named Jane Twisden and a swineherd named Nicodemus Underwood, have their own opinions of Lady Enid. Enid is attacked by a vampire, and Edgar seeks answers in an Egyptian tomb, briefly resurrecting the mummy of an Egyptian princess. Returning home with the sarcophagus, Edgar prepares to hunt down the werewolf he blames for the death of his son and first wife. Meanwhile, Enid discovers Irma locked away, supposedly to coax out the location of precious jewels from her. Wresting the keys to Irma's cell from Jane, Enid frees Irma only to discover the prisoner is, in fact, Jane herself, actually a vampire, and the killer of Irma as well as her and Edgar's son. Nicodemus, now a werewolf, kills Jane, only to be shot dead by Edgar. In the end, Enid prevents Edgar from writing about his experiences in Egypt, revealing she was the princess herself, the whole thing an elaborate sham by her father to discredit Edgar. The two reconcile.

Notes

References

*Samuels, Steven (ed). ''Ridiculous Theater: Scourge of Human Folly, The Essays and Opinions of Charles Ludlam'' (May 1992), Theatre Communications Group,

External links

''The Mystery of Irma Vep''
at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Arena Stage notes, 2008

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mystery of Irma Vep, The Plays by Charles Ludlam 1984 plays Theatre of the Absurd