-Brenda Hillegas
Bristol Riverside Theatre kicks off the new season with Charles Ludlam’s comedy-camp-suspense-satire The Mystery of Irma Vep, now through October 22nd. During this two-hour supernatural journey, the two-person cast of Chris French and Charles Osborne transforms through a variety of characters! Below, Chris and Charles talk about Irma Vep, their multiple character and costume changes, and how they prepared for this “workout” of a show!
Q: How would you explain Irma Vep to someone who isn’t familiar with it?
Chris French: Irma Vep is a campy, spooky send-up of old Hollywood scary movies. It’s a fast-paced laugh riot with just two actors playing all of the characters, and a guaranteed fun night at the theatre, and perfect for Halloween!
Charles Osborne: Irma Vep is Carol Burnett meets Scooby-Doo. It’s Scary Movie meets Downton Abbey. It’s a hysterical Victorian murder parody, full of vampires, werewolves, mummies, and ghosts; but the weirdest characters of all are the humans. It’s “laugh-til-you-cry” funny, and perfect for Halloween!
Q: Since it’s a two-person show, you both play multiple characters. Can you tell us a bit about your roles specifically?
CF: I have two main characters; the first is Edgar Hillcrest, the Lord of the Manor, who is still mourning the loss of his first wife, Irma Vep. The second is Jane Twisden, the housekeeper at Mandacrest Manor, who believes that Edgar’s new bride will never make a fit mistress for Edgar nor Mandacrest – and she’s got some tricks up her sleeve!
CO: I play Nicodemus Underwood, the creepy-looking groundskeeper with a heart of gold. He has horrible teeth, a wooden leg, and the soul of a Muppet. Watch closely and you’ll notice the wooden leg may actually be his best limb. Another character of mine is Lady Enid Hillcrest, a former stage actress and Lord Edgar’s new wife. She’s truly the “Hitchcock blonde” of the horror film. She’s got the man of her dreams, but the haunted house of her nightmares. If only her husband would sweep her off her feet, instead of all the monsters! I also play Alcazar, a Greco-German Gollum skittering through the tombs of Egypt, like a bug-eyed Dr. Evil in a fez.
I play a few other characters but— shh– those are a surprise.
Q: How did you prepare for this show? What’s the most challenging aspect of transforming from one character to the next so quickly?
CF: The show is a lot to prepare for! Both of us came in off-book for the first day of rehearsal because we knew we wouldn’t have time to mount the show otherwise. Every day before the show I also rely heavily on my warmup routine – lots of stretching and vocalizing – to sustain the demands of the show. I also have to be very thoughtful about eating enough (but not too much!) to keep my energy up, and staying hydrated because we sweat up a storm running around changes costumes so often.
The most challenging aspect of changing so frequently is probably being able to quickly drop back into character and re-enter without bringing the stress or frenzy of the quick change onstage with me. This becomes doubly tricky because we are almost always entering right back into a scene from which we have just exited, but as a totally different character with his or her own objective and point of view of the circumstances of the scene.
CO: I started preparing for this show in July. Chris and I knew we had to be completely memorized by Day 1 in order to mount something so ambitious so quickly. I did a mountain of research into the play, the period, the book and movie references, the accents, the physicality, everything. I even read old Victorian acting manuals because one of my characters was a celebrated stage actress of the time. I wanted every stray gesture and movement, conscious or unconscious, to be period-specific.
The hardest part of the show is the physical stamina. It’s a two-hour nonstop laugh riot for the audience. But for us, it’s a two-hour nonstop workout. The costume changes backstage are certainly difficult, but once we’re back on stage, we are doing more physical comedy than any show I’ve ever done before. We’re doing it all very safely, of course, but we still get stray bruises all over our bodies by the end of the week. Comedy is a full-contact sport!
Q: There are dozens of costume/wig changes in this show- which one is your favorite? Why?
CF: There is a sequence toward the end of the first act that is probably my favorite. I don’t want to give anything away, but it is a mad dash and so much happens in the blink of an eye – it’s exhilarating!
CO: My most challenging costume change is also my favorite, simply because it is such a challenge. There is a scene where I play two different characters having a conversation with themselves, back and forth, back and forth. I have to fully change my costume on every line as fast as possible, so that the conversation flows naturally. It would never be achievable without several of the backstage crew helping me. So although the audience sees just me on stage, it’s truly a group effort.
Q: Irma Vep is so perfect for the spooky season! What are some of your favorite campy horror characters or movies?
CF: Irma Vep is heavily influenced by Hitchcock’s Rebecca, which has become a new favorite of mine. I also love Young Frankenstein, which is very much the style of our fun little show!
CO: My favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus. Bette Midler’s performance in that movie is a masterpiece of camp comedy.
Philadelphia RowHome Magazine's Blog 
1 Comment