By Kristen Schweizer
December 13, 2022
The opening night audience giggled, tittered, chuckled, cackled, and at one point barked. The Mystery of Irma Vep at Diversionary Theatre required every type of laugh and deserved its standing ovation. I say “required” because the campy humor milks every smirk into a guffaw and “deserves” because Bryan Banville and Luke Harvey Jacobs may be the hardest-working actors in San Diego this holiday season.
Diversionary’s brilliant community spurs on this high-octane, high-caliber show. This script should only be experienced alongside a loving audience, as it asks you to suspend your disbelief and giggle cathartically at the “unspeakable horror” of B-movie monsters and the symbols they represent. (Irma Vep was written during the HIV/AIDS crisis). Diversionary leadership is savvy and sincere in this, including participation games (Hiss when you hear a “gloriously bad joke”! Snap if something “gay” occurs!) The crowd cheered the popular Artistic Director Matt M. Morrow‘s opening night address.
The two-hander Irma script – from the prolific and colorful Charles Ludlam – has not been produced in over 20 years primarily due to the all-out, dizzying pace it requires from its players. The gothic, old-timey horror and hilarious high-and-low-brow humor make for an exhilarating and exhausting experience. Banville and Jacobs have remarkable chemistry, marrying shrewdness and silliness with nods to their quick costume change efforts. Audiences will enjoy Peter Herman’s lovely wig work and Brooke Kesler’s costume details as the characters transform with every entrance.
Directors Matt M. Morrow and Allison Spratt Pearce keep the romp going through a nearly two-hour run time, helped along by toe-tapping music selection. (I have not stopped humming I Think We’re Alone Now since attending.) While I wish the actors had shouted their backstage lines rather than recorded them during some of the many costume swaps, the flawless audio mix from Evan Eason proves the level of excellence found in Diversionary’s newly upgraded equipment and space.
Diversionary is the nation’s third longest-running LGBTQIA+ theater. Thanks to the expertise and heart of their team, Irma Veps is resurrected and she liiiiiives.
The Mystery of Irma Vep
By Charles Ludlam
Directed by Matt M. Morrow & Allison Spratt Pearce
December 1 – 24, 2022
Learn more at diversionary.org. Diversionary’s sexy Clark Cabaret bar is open with (usually free) programming most nights a week. Arrive early to enjoy your drink before the show, as masks are required inside the theater at all times.
