BANGOR A Gothic "penny dreadful" melodrama, complete with a werewolf and a
mummy, takes a decidedly funny turn when two actors make forty costume
changes to play seven roles in Penobscot Theatre¹s next production, The
Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam. The play will run September 26
through October 14 at the Penobscot Theatre at 183 Main Street in Bangor.
"The Mystery of Irma Vep will have our audiences howling with laughter,"
predicted Mark Torres, the theatre¹s producing artistic director. "While
Ludlam¹s script cleverly captures the absurdities in melodrama, including
the werewolf, he also adds the extra comic twist of having two actors
perform the whole story with split-second timing. From beginning to end, it
is highly energetic and entertaining."
Born in 1943, Charles Ludlam attended Hofstra University and became the
artistic director and playwright-in-residence of the Ridiculous Theatrical
Company. His play Bluebeard, written in 1970, was among the company¹s
earliest productions. Author of more than a dozen plays, Ludlam is known
primarily for Irma Vep, which was honored as one of the best plays of 1984
by Time and The New York Times. It also earned the Drama Desk Award and the
Obie Award for Ludlam and his partner Everett Quinton, who co-starred with
him in the first production. Ludlam also received the Rosamund Gilder Award
in 1986 for distinguished achievement in theatre and a Village Voice Obie
Award in 1987 for distinguished achievement. He died in 1987.
Karen Lamb will direct Irma Vep. In addition to directing plays, musicals,
and staged readings in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts,
Lamb has also taught theatre at the Dallas Children¹s Theatre and the Dallas
Theatre Center as well as at McLennan Community College, the University of
Massachusetts, and Mount Union College.
Mark Cartier, who appeared in PTC/MSF¹s The Turn of the Screw last fall,
will play Jane Twisden, Lord Edgar Hillcrest, and an intruder. Cartier has
also performed at the Theatre at Monmouth for five summers and is a regular
cast member of Shear Madness at the Charles Playhouse in Boston.
Dan Dowling, also from the Boston area, will play Nicodemus Underwood, Lady
Enid Hillcrest, and Alcazar. His acting credits include plays in Vermont,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as well as film and
television.
The actor who will portray Irma Vep remains a mystery.
Costumes for Irma Vep are being co-designed by PTC/MSF¹s resident costume
designer Ginger Phelps and Gabby D¹Italia, costume design associate for MSF
2001. The set is being designed by Shawn Crawford, whose Irma Vep designs
have been seen in Memphis and Pittsburgh. Jeff Greenberg, from the New York
City area, will be designing the lighting.
The Mystery of Irma Vep will officially open with an 8:00 p.m. performance
on Friday, September 28. Half-price preview performances are scheduled for
Wednesday, September 26, and Thursday, September 27, at 7:00 p.m.; and a
free artistic director¹s forum will follow the 2:00 p.m. matinee on Sunday,
September 30. A 10:00 a.m. matinee for school groups and senior citizens is
planned for Friday, October 12.
Production of Irma Vep has been supported by WLBZ 2 as the PTC/MSF season
sponsor; the Holiday Inn-Odlin Road as production underwriter; and Bangor
Daily News.
Additional information about Irma Vep and other PTC/MSF productions is
available by visiting the box office at the Bangor Opera House, 131 Main
Street, in downtown Bangor, noon to 6:00 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, or
www.PenobscotTheatre.com. Inquiries may also be directed to 942-3333 or
ptcbo@mint.net.
A not-for-profit 501(c)(3), Penobscot Theatre Company stages professional
theatre productions throughout the year and offers the largest arts
education outreach program in Maine.
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PHOTO NOTE: Publicity photographs will be available next week. Please
contact Judy Hanscom at 947-6618 to request digital or hard copies.
Also, if you prefer to take your own photos, you may send a photographer to
one of our dress rehearsals on September 23 and 24. Please contact Judy
Hanscom to make arrangements.