{"id":268,"date":"2026-06-05T04:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268"},"modified":"2026-06-05T04:32:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:32:41","slug":"the-undead-can-be-funny-new-production-proves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268","title":{"rendered":"The undead can be funny, new production proves"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Central Square Theater resuscitates queer playwright Charles Ludlam\u2019s most produced play, his 1984 \u201cThe Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful,<\/em>\u201d bringing it back to life in a hilarious production directed by David R. Gammons. Like the many \u201cundead\u201d characters that haunt it, the play refuses to stay buried.<\/p>\n

Read more Massachusetts\u2019s slow adoption of EV chargers through federal program is \u2018mystifying\u2019 to transit advocates<\/a><\/p>\n

Set in an English manor house and in an Egyptian tomb sometime between World War I and World War II, \u201cIrma\u201d involves a former wife who may or may not be dead and a housekeeper bent on revenge. Numerous dead and undead characters like mummies, werewolves, and vampires (anagram of the name Irma Vep) pop out of constantly opening and closing doors. Fans of Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and of films such as \u201cRebecca\u201d and \u201cGaslight\u201d will enjoy discovering the Easter eggs hidden in the fast-moving script. They include lines such as \u201cEach man kills the thing he loves\u201d and housekeeper Jane\u2019s suggestion that Lady Enid wear a dress that belonged to her husband\u2019s dead wife.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The play has only two actors: the ever-hilarious Paul Melendy and Gabriel Graetz, who rapidly exit and re-enter as all eight characters \u2014 sometimes male, sometimes female, but always elaborately garbed, and often disconcertingly hairy. Is it still drag if xx dressed as Jane, the housekeeper, sports a heavy beard beneath her mob cap? Or if Lady Enid, attempting to seduce her distracted Egyptologist of a husband, displays a fetchingly furred leg from beneath the folds of her apricot-colored silk? Either way, it\u2019s funny.<\/p>\n

The plot of \u201cIrma\u201d is at times hard to follow \u2014 at one point, a character announces that it doesn\u2019t make any sense \u2014 but who cares? The silly puns and double entendres, both verbal and visual, animate the story. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Events this week: Pride, Shakespeare reinvented, & Fresh Pond Day<\/a><\/p>\n

Melendy and Graetz do a lot to keep the laughs coming, their eye rolls and shoulder shrugs camping up every aspect of their delivery of the delightfully ridiculous script. (Ludlam\u2019s company, founded in 1967, was called the Ridiculous Theatrical Company.) But two actors alone cannot keep the complexities of the production alive. Elaborate costumes (Seth Bodie), sound design (Nate Tucker), lighting (Jeff Adelberg), props (Lauren Corcuera), and stage management (Fanni Horvath) provide the muscle and bones (sometimes literally with severed limbs flung about the stage) that Melendy and Graetz need to pull off their many roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrma\u201dwas written by Ludlam, who died of AIDS in 1987 at the age of 44, as a response to the disease that took the lives of so many of those in his Greenwich Village community in the 1980s, Gammons said. All those farcical \u201cundead\u201d characters were his effort to defeat death by mocking it.<\/p>\n

Does it go on a bit too long? Perhaps. Do some of the gags become predictable with repetition? Possibly. But in the end, Ludlam\u2019s creation of a script that could keep an audience laughing and engaged nearly 40 years after his death suggests that he did, after all, emerge the victor in his own struggle against mortality.<\/p>\n

Read more Celebrating youth-based films with DIYDS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mystery of Irma Vep\u201d plays at Central Square Theater through June 21.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Central Square Theater resuscitates queer playwright Charles Ludlam\u2019s most produced play, his 1984 \u201cThe Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful,\u201d bringing it back to life in a hilarious production directed by David R. Gammons. Like the many \u201cundead\u201d characters that haunt it, the play refuses to stay buried. Read more Massachusetts\u2019s slow adoption of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[154,73],"class_list":["post-268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-arts-culture","tag-theater"],"yoast_head":"\nThe undead can be funny, new production proves - Cambridge Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The undead can be funny, new production proves - Cambridge Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Central Square Theater resuscitates queer playwright Charles Ludlam\u2019s most produced play, his 1984 \u201cThe Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful,\u201d bringing it back to life in a hilarious production directed by David R. Gammons. Like the many \u201cundead\u201d characters that haunt it, the play refuses to stay buried. Read more Massachusetts\u2019s slow adoption of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cambridge Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T04:32:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\"},\"headline\":\"The undead can be funny, new production proves\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T04:32:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268\"},\"wordCount\":551,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/731b599b851e9250567e31a7ae24658a.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Arts + Culture\",\"Theater\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Arts + Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268\",\"name\":\"The undead can be funny, new production proves - Cambridge Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/731b599b851e9250567e31a7ae24658a.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T04:32:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/731b599b851e9250567e31a7ae24658a.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/731b599b851e9250567e31a7ae24658a.jpg\",\"width\":2286,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=268#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The undead can be funny, new production proves\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cambridge Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The undead can be funny, new production proves - Cambridge Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The undead can be funny, new production proves - Cambridge Moving Hub","og_description":"Central Square Theater resuscitates queer playwright Charles Ludlam\u2019s most produced play, his 1984 \u201cThe Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful,\u201d bringing it back to life in a hilarious production directed by David R. Gammons. Like the many \u201cundead\u201d characters that haunt it, the play refuses to stay buried. Read more Massachusetts\u2019s slow adoption of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268","og_site_name":"Cambridge Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-06-05T04:32:41+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373"},"headline":"The undead can be funny, new production proves","datePublished":"2026-06-05T04:32:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268"},"wordCount":551,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/731b599b851e9250567e31a7ae24658a.jpg","keywords":["Arts + Culture","Theater"],"articleSection":["Arts + Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268","name":"The undead can be funny, new production proves - Cambridge Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/731b599b851e9250567e31a7ae24658a.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-05T04:32:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/731b599b851e9250567e31a7ae24658a.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/731b599b851e9250567e31a7ae24658a.jpg","width":2286,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=268#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The undead can be funny, new production proves"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/","name":"Cambridge Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}