The Mystery of Irma Vep; Play Project

This morning, please continue reading The Mystery of Irma Vep.

• As "theater of the ridiculous" you should identify how the play stands up to its name. Allusions to popular culture (this play, for example, borrows much from a variety of literary sources including Daphne DuMaurier's gothic novel Rebecca--made into a Hitchcock film in 1940), Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, and a variety of pop cultural horror films such as The Mummy, The Wolf Man, and Dracula. Most adult audiences would know these references. 
• Above all there is a sense of play or make-believe and, well, ridiculous situations. The quick change costumes and fact that only two actors play all the roles in this play make for some farcical situations.
• Some of the scenes (see the Irma Vep scene in the tomb) were improvised--another characteristic of this kind of play format. We will also screen The Complete Plays of Shakespeare: Unabridged as another example of the Ridiculous Theatre tradition next week.  

Once we're done, please return to the lab and work on your projects. These will be due Monday at the end of class. Please make sure you are ready to edit/revise your work on Monday (i.e., don't plan on finishing the play then--instead use your time in the lab to tweak, edit, and improve your script as opposed to writing it!) That means: finish your play script this weekend!

HOMEWORK: Finish your play script! Complete the reading of the Charles Ludlum article.