Seattleplays.com review By Tom Scanlon
				The Mystery of Irma Vep Intiman Theater Closes May 22
		This is the sort of play that might leave one weak-kneed, dizzy, nauseous, in a quasi-Sartrean crisis. If many others are laughing their heads off, and I am moved more to pity than humor, do I exist?    Can this crass, clever-deficient play really be existing in a theater (Intiman) known for its intellectually-challenging, classy productions?     Sub-titled A Penny Dreadful, this play certainly is. Charles Ludlam's Irma Vep is a two-actor fast change multi-costume romp through camp camp, taking off on Hitchcock Shakespeare melodramas and what ever else it can get its flabby little hands on. Vampires, werewolves, sound effects, awful accents, etc. . . .     It feels terribly dated, terribly silly, terribly lazy, and sometimes just terrible.  It’s nothing that Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman or Gene Wilder and Madeleine Kahn couldn’t make wild entertainment.  For mere mortals, however, it’s almost beyond a fair chance.  Mark Anders and Richard Ruiz do all they can, and acting so far over the top, you expect them to disappear to the other side.  They run and emote and breathlessly exit via one door and in one costume, entering moments later by another door in another costume.  Often, they wear dresses .    Some people enjoy this sort of thing. For others, a shot of Moliere and a Feydeau chaser is the only anti-dote.     Should Intiman, from Bartlett Sher to the costume designers to the volunteer ushers, be ashamed of themselves for this muck? Or should they be excused – you know, a theater’s got to make money, nothing wrong with putting on a little on-the-cheap show, two moderately-priced actors, sets and costumes that can be dug out of the closet, etc? You know, so many local theaters struggling to get by, etc., have to give them a break from time to time and let them make some dough . .      But then, what’s the point? If it’s between this and “noble failures,” my vote would be for theaters to put on challenging work and go bankrupt, let them be knocked down and replaced by condos with Starbuck’s on the first floor; anything but this.