Magical Mystery

The Mystery of Irma Vep is a cross-dessing, pun-dropping masterpiece

by Mark Cofta

Charles Ludlam's 1984 "penny dreadful," The Mystery of Irma Vep, seems an inspired choice for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival: Loosen up those classics (and their reverential audience) with a cross-dressing, pun-dropping masterpiece from Ludlam's legendary Ridiculous Theatre.

For the most part, PSF funnyman Jim Helsinger's production succeeds through excess. Not only do two men (rubber-faced farceurs Christopher Patrick Mullen and Brad DePlanche) play four roles each, but Helsinger cleverly upgrades the stagehands, making each scene change a comic ballet, climaxing with mummies re-creating Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. This Irma Vep's only fault is, paradoxically, that it's too good � every possible humorous moment feels tightly planned, with no room for instinct and improv. Audience reaction will probably encourage loosening through the run.

Irma Vep isn't all that mysterious; it's really just a vehicle for English drawing-room thriller parody. Arch clichés and clever references to Shakespeare, Poe and Wilde abound, along with a healthy dollop of sex and fart jokes, and that timeless comedy standard, men in dresses. Knowing that Mullen and DePlanche will rush offstage to change costume and instantly reappear as different characters just adds to the fun: When DePlanche as Lady Enid demands to see another DePlanche character, Mullen's servant Jane protests, "Nicodemus can't come, Lady Enid," with a pointed pause, "for obvious reasons."

Irma Vep ("vampire" anagrammatized) has never enjoyed such a sumptuous production. Bob Phillips' vast stage, ghoulish and gaudy in green and pink, gives Mullen and DePlanche plenty of romping room, transforming handily for an expedition to an Egyptian tomb. Lisa Zinni's Victorian costumes are appropriately heavy but built for fast changes, and Steve TenEyck's lighting heightens the melodrama. Sound designer Matthew Given has the most fun, with dramatic thunderclaps and ominous organ chords.

Though Mullen and DePlanche might more reveal how much they're in on the jokes, their commitment to character is admirable. Longtime People's Light & Theatre Company member Mullen has often demonstrated his unique talent for playing silly-and-sincere � his running gag of catching fingers in drawers and doors plays with superb understatement � and DePlanche matches his comic skill with appropriately broad, yet grounded, characterizations.

(m_cofta@citypaper.net)

THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP

Through Aug. 5, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, 610-282-9455, www.pashakespeare.org