What is a man, other than a miserable pile of secrets? The Mystery of Irma Vep is a vampiric satire of Victorian melodrama and monster-pulp, written by the great playwright, performer, artist, and theater-rebel Charles Ludlam. (Not to be confused with the similarly great Charles Pierce or Charles Busch, who have engaged in similar lines of work in slightly-overlapping eras.) Ludlam was a fascinating and wonderful weirdo whose work only occasionally filters up to mainstream media: A passing appearance on Miami Vice; a hysterical female impersonation next to his old friend Madeline Kahn on the forgotten ’80s sitcom Oh Madeline. This particular play is
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