Irma Vep

Tonight I saw the last play of the Jonathan Moscone era at CalShakes. It was a modern farcical comedy entitled The Mystery of Irma Vep, by Charles Ludlam. I was joined by Bill and Andy, and Andy pointed out it seemed to be a takeoff on Rebecca. The story was silly and campy, and the acting was over-the-top, but fun. The production itself only had two actors, the always humorous Danny Scheie and Liam Vincent, who played a number of male and female roles. A big part of the fun was seeing them go off stage dressed one way, for example as a man, and then return relatively quickly dressed and made up as a woman. It was impressive to seem them flip between characters and costumes. It was a light play, but it was fun and enjoyable. The next artistic director for CalShakes has been announced, and I hope it continues to be as good.