"The Mystery of Irma Vep," picks you up, whirls you zanily for two hours - no pauses here - then drops you back in your theater seat, back in the real world. The audience is left more breathless than the actors. And very impressed.
The secret to the energy of Charles Ludlum's play is that all the parts are played by just two men. In this case, at Pioneer Theatre, Davis Hall and Craig Wroe cover eight or nine roles between them.The plot is a romantic English mystery - something that could have been created by Daphne du Maurier on speed trying to bring a touch of Shakespeare to "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
But the plot, unique as it is, is not what make this play worth seeing. "The Mystery of Irma Vep," is a tribute to timing, characterization, staging, lighting and costume. It's a tribute to theater.
"Irma Vep" is a showcase for two actors. Hall and Wroe are more than equal to the split-second costume changes and snappy dialogue - and to the constant change in character back and forth between man and woman. Still, to see "Irma Vep" at Pioneer Theatre is to wish you could have seen it with it's author, Charles Ludlum in the cast.
Ludlum, who died of AIDS in 1987 at the age of 44, is said to have been a genius at impersonating women.
Not that Hall, who has left New York before for appearances on the Salt Lake stage, and Wroe, who has been in every Pioneer production this season, aren't good.
Wroe actually is at his best in the female role of Lady Enid Hillcrest, second wife to Lord Edgar Hillcrest, whose first wife and son died under mysterious circumstances at the Hillcrest estate near Hampstead Heath.
As Lady Enid, Wroe towers over Hall, but gently. Her large feet are hidden beneath lavendar gowns. Her large hands reach tentatively for a teacup, or to touch the face of her aloof and troubled husband.
In one totally marvelous scene, Wroe plays Lady Enid and the stableman Nicodemus at the same time.
Hall is at his comedic peak as Lord Edgar. He is most inspired as he wrestles with invisible demons who toss him about the drawing room.
Speaking of the drawing room - what a marvelous set. With the exception of a scene in an Egyptian tomb, the action in "Irma Vep" takes place in the manor house drawing room.
George Maxwell, who did the amazing set for "Grapes of Wrath," also designed this set. Everywhere there are ferns, draperies, leopard skin covered tea trays, bookcases and fringe.
Outside the french doors, lightning storms rage and wolves howl, and fog rolls over the moors. Inside a man in hunting garb and a stern-lipped maid chat with a diaphanously clad lady and a wolf-wounded manservant.
Who is the werewolf? Is there a vampire? What's behind the picture? In the mummy case? On the other side of the curtain?
Don't look for answers from the actors. Look for laughs.
John Caywood directs Hall and Wroe through the mad action and complicated dialogue. Barbara Rollins is stage manager. Angelo O'Dierno does the lighting. David Paulin designed the costumes.
There are a couple of naughty jokes and some double entendre in this play. Few people will be offended. The majority will be entertained and amazed by "The Mystery of Irma Vep."
Live theater doesn't get any more lively than this.