Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Few genres are as fragile as the Theatre of the Ridiculous. Many are the enthusiastic comic stylists who have attempted such classics of the Charles Ludlam genre as “The Mystery of Irma Vep,” only to be hoisted on their own campy petards, done in by overacting, anemic pacing, dribbling pauses, overearnest flatness or some fatal combination thereof. Like all of Ludlam’s deceptively tricky creations, “Irma Vep” is like the impossible carnival game where you roll a coin onto a conveyor and try to land between the lines. Touch the edges and your quarter spends the night in the trough. The Court Theatre, though, has a winner."
Chicago Reader
- Recommended
"...Obviously, the play makes little attempt at credibility or even coherence. The ludicrously overplotted narrative is just an excuse for over-the-top acting and a nonstop barrage of pop-culture and highbrow allusions (including some hilariously mangled snippets from Shakespeare, Poe, and Wilde). In this Court Theatre production, director Sean Graney amplifies Ludlam's campy double entendres and groaner puns with lewd sight gags, gross-out bits, and an especially clever piece of shtick that satirizes his own penchant for putting audiences in the middle of his shows. Graney's previous assignment at Court, Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw, was also the work of a subversive queer writer. This production is equally creative—and raunchy—but a lot more tightly coordinated."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Granted, the performance I attended was the second of the day for Erik Hellman and Chris Sullivan, making for inevitable fatigue toward the 90-minute mark. But the special effects conjured by Jack Magaw, Alison Siple, Heather Gilbert and Michael Griggs (set, costume, light and sound, respectively) are as cleverly conceived as they are impeccably executed. And the proliferation of Ludlam imitators among post-graduate playwrights attests to the continuing popularity of a genre bred of more secretive times. All that said, if museum-piece confection is your cup of tea (oh-mary-did-you-ever), you'll find it capably served up at Court Theatre."
Centerstage
- Highly Recommended
"...The funniest upholstery of the season has been found: a black and white damask that keeps popping up in "The Mystery of Irma Vep," to increasingly riotous effect. And when even the cloth is hilarious, you know that something is going right."
Edge
- Highly Recommended
"...The requisite quick-changes are so elegantly executed, you at times take for granted that an actor has walked off stage and entered in a completely different outfit in a matter of seconds. Mention should be made of Alison Siple’s structurally advanced costume designs, which effortlessly transform Mr. Sullivan from a menacing, bald-headed servant to a zaftig, cleavage heaving Lady Enid. (I would totally buy tickets--if they were available--to see the goings on backstage. Major kudos to the crew who help execute these changes with ease and skill.)"
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...
Those challenges are brilliantly met by this dynamic Laurel-and-Hardy pair. Sullivan, whose massive frame gives Lady Enid an almost architectural grandeur, gets the finest tour de force: He engages in a seemingly impossible back-and-forth between Enid and his other major character, the one-legged servant Nicodemus. Hellman wields a mean hatchet as the murderous maid Jane and, as pith-helmeted Lord Edgar, intrepidly plumbs the depths of Egyptology."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...The plot moves through several genres that begs our full attention but we laugh a lot and admire the terrific work from Hellman and Sullivan. This brilliant play is a tour de force for Hellman and Sullivan as they change innumerable dramatis personae . Victorian melodrama and classic film noir work together to offer a sensational evening of theatre."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Ludlam left us at an early age, but thank God he left us with a wonderful work of theater that will live on forever. Thank you, Court Theatre for making this part of your season. It is because of the daring work you do that people look forward to the seasons you bring us and even north-siders make the trip to Hyde Park for some of Chicago's finest theater. If you enjoy laughing, this one will please you to no end. If you enjoy good comedy, this is a perfect night of theater."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Highly Recommended
"...A show like Irma Vep has a huge "How’d they do that?!" factor, and Graney answers any questions about how such a technically complex show is put together with an absolutely genius final scene. The actors take the stage for the last time, but they are joined by the backstage crew and the production’s most valuable player: the costume rack. As the two men tie up the loose ends of Ludlam’s ridiculous plot they switch between characters and costumes on stage, stripping away illusion and revealing the magic that goes on behind the scenes."
