Studio Arena Theatre's production of Charles Ludlam's "The Mystery of Irma Vep"Â is about as campy as camp gets, an undeniably entertaining night at the theater full of a deep love for the subjects it lampoons, and runs through April 7.
The story, if it can be called a story, mimics that of Daphne Du Maurier's novel "Rebecca."Â The wife of Lord Edgar (played by Robert Rutland, along with three other characters), Irma Vep, has died. Her portrait hangs above the fireplace, haunting him and his new mistress, Lady Enid (played by Ray Boucher, along with three other characters). Suspicions of her lingering presence and influence turn to outright fear when Lord Edgar's maid Jane and his stable hand Nicodemus discover various secrets better left untold.
The jokes are all charmingly lame, the gags visible from acres away, the acting exaggerated to the very limits of melodrama.
There is, however, nothing campy about the gorgeous sets, a meticulously well-appointed Victorian parlor and an Egyptian tomb, both designed by Vincent Mountain.
The show's main gag (and there are many) lies in the more than 40 costume changes employed with the help of backstage workers on the show's two actors, Boucher and Rutland. The costume changes are all so expertly executed that it is difficult to pick just one series to highlight.
Suffice it to say that when Boucher limped offstage as a male character one moment and pranced on as a damsel in distress the next, actual gasps escaped from the lips of stunned audience members.
Tony Caselli's direction binds all the disparate elements of the production together in an intricate structure that pro- duces the very convincing illusion of ease onstage.
Ludlam's dialogue is often laugh-out-loud hilarious, but the humor is nuanced by Boucher and Rutland's marathon performances. Boucher's delivery as Lady Enid is suitably chortle-inducing, and Rutland's dynamism as Lord Edgar and Jane is an exquisite transformation to watch.
At points some of Ludlam's gags fall short, as in a bit of rehearsed onstage chuckling by Lady Enid after a particularly bad joke is delivered by Jane.
But these one or two rough moments in which the play struggles to earn laughs are greatly overshadowed by consistently funny performances and an execution, from costume changes to set, sound and lighting design, that makes "Irma Vep"Â a fine definition for camp, indeed. -- www.studioarena.org
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