THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609280038
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: 66 lines
WITH A FLOURISH of Victorian skirts and a plethora of popping eyes, Virginia Stage Company opens its 18th season with a dose of moor madness. It's a nod to the horror classics of yore that, in fact, may make you nod.
Yes, there are laughs in ``The Mystery of Irma Vep,'' a re-creation of the spoof produced by Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theater Company in 1984. There are not enough, though, and the ones that create a thud create a deadly thud.
Unabashedly billed as ``outrageous'' in the company's publicity, this production is troubled not so much by the fact that it goes over the top as by the fact that it doesn't have anywhere to go.
It brings up the question of whether ``The Mystery of Irma Vep'' should have a life beyond the village - Greenwich Village, that is. It is one of the 29 plays that the flamboyant Ludlam wrote for his tiny company to perform at Sheridan Square in New York. The style there was one of throwaway novelty. To open a season in a theater as large as the Wells, on the other hand, perhaps puts too much weight on the campy script. This production is trying too hard to reach the mainstream.
Maybe, with all that has happened to the world since 1984, it just takes more to shock us. In any case, the present edition, directed by Chris Claveli, seems much too highly structured and calculated.
This said, there is nonetheless an obvious love of theatricality in every gesture of this production. The gimmick is that seven roles, of both genders, are played, via quick-changes, by two actors.
Charlie Hensley, the company's director, plays at varying moments Jane Twisden, the grizzled housekeeper at Mandacrest who acts a good deal like Judith Anderson in ``Rebecca''; Lord Edgar Hillcrest, head of the manor, done up in what looks like a Boy Scout outfit; and an intruder who looks as if he's ready to reap the grim.
James Beaman, a veteran of Off-Broadway's musical revue ``Whoop-Dee-Doo!'' and ``Vampire Lesbians of Sodom,'' plays Lady Enid Hillcrest as well as a weird, one-legged stableman, an Egyptian guide who sounds like Peter Lorre, and a bare-breasted Egyptian princess who is more like a gum-smacking Valley Girl.
Along the way, there are things like one actor who bumps into another's rear and comments ``another dead end'' or a line like ``it's just infatuation, tinged with lust.''
The actors work hard and, aided by a team of backstage dressers, rush from change to change with energy. It is often too obvious, though, that onstage smalltalk is just a cover to gain costume-change time. After a while, the gimmick grows thin and we want a real comedy. That's when ``Irma Vep'' gets in trouble.
Dex Edwards' sets, which are worth the price of admission, include a Gothic mansion that moves toward the audience with as much grandeur as Norma Desmond's home moves nightly on Broadway in ``Sunset Boulevard.'' One can appreciate, too, the detail of the set dressings, so wondrously lit by Joe Saint. And of course, Howard Tsvi Kaplan's costumes must be given credit for being as practical as they are ornate. They look as if they're meant to be ripped off.
At the least, the two actors' tour de force is quite a feat to watch. Even if there is more corn than heather on the hill, this curiosity is something you need to add to your theater-going experience. See it as a hoot and you won't even mind that there are more groaners than guffaws. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
VIRGINIA STAGE COMPANY
Virginia State Company Director Charlie Hensley, left, and James
Beaman play all the roles in ``Irma Vep.'' by CNB