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Ridiculous Theatre: Scourge of Human Folly: The Essays and Opinions of Charles Ludlam
Edited by Steven Samuels
"Unguarded, witty, articulate and extremely smart.” –Frank Rich, New York Times
“The greatest comic genius of our time.” –Judith Malina, The Living Theatre
Artistic director, playwright, director, designer and star of New York’s acclaimed Ridiculous Theatrical Company, the late Charles Ludlam ransacked theatrical and literary history in an evolutionary quest for a modern art of stage comedy. Seen by some as simply a gifted buffoon, Ridiculous Scourge of Human Folly exposes Ludlam as a clear-eyed, hard-headed thinker and master craftsman. His luminous essays (never widely available in his lifetime) and provocative opinions (drawn from interviews, unpublished papers and notebooks) reveal a complex mind comprehensively focused on theatrical invention.
Charles Artistic director, playwright, director, designer and star of New York’s acclaimed Ridiculous Theatrical Company. During his twenty years with the Ridiculous, Ludlam won Obie and Drama Desk awards as well as playwriting fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller and Ford foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts. His more than thirty plays are among the most thought-provoking entertainments in the modern repertoire and continue to be widely performed throughout the world.
"Unguarded, witty, articulate and extremely smart.” –Frank Rich, New York Times
“The greatest comic genius of our time.” –Judith Malina, The Living Theatre
Artistic director, playwright, director, designer and star of New York’s acclaimed Ridiculous Theatrical Company, the late Charles Ludlam ransacked theatrical and literary history in an evolutionary quest for a modern art of stage comedy. Seen by some as simply a gifted buffoon, Ridiculous Scourge of Human Folly exposes Ludlam as a clear-eyed, hard-headed thinker and master craftsman. His luminous essays (never widely available in his lifetime) and provocative opinions (drawn from interviews, unpublished papers and notebooks) reveal a complex mind comprehensively focused on theatrical invention.
Charles Artistic director, playwright, director, designer and star of New York’s acclaimed Ridiculous Theatrical Company. During his twenty years with the Ridiculous, Ludlam won Obie and Drama Desk awards as well as playwriting fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller and Ford foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts. His more than thirty plays are among the most thought-provoking entertainments in the modern repertoire and continue to be widely performed throughout the world.
- GenresEssays
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
Charles Ludlam
24 books2 followersCharles Braun Ludlam was an American actor, director, and playwright.
Ludlam joined John Vaccaro's Play-House of the Ridiculous, and after a falling out, became founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York City in 1967. His first plays were inchoate exercises: however, starting with Bluebeard he began to write more structured works, which, though they were pastiches of gothic novels, Lorca, Shakespeare, Wagner, popular culture, old movies, and anything else that might get a laugh, had more serious import.
Theater critic Brendan Gill after seeing one of Ludlam's plays famously remarked, "This isn't farce. This isn't absurd. This is absolutely ridiculous!".
Yet on his own work Ludlam had commented: "I would say that my work falls into the classical tradition of comedy. Over the years there have been certain traditional approaches to comedy. As a modern artist you have to advance the tradition. I want to work within the tradition so that I don’t waste my time trying to establish new conventions. You can be very original within the established conventions."
Ludlam usually appeared in his plays (particularly noted for his female roles), and had written one of the first plays to deal (though tangentially) with HIV infection. He taught or staged productions at New York University, Connecticut College for Women, Yale University, and Carnegie Mellon University. He won fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. He won six Obie Awards, the last one 2 weeks before his death, and won the Rosamund Gilder Award for distinguished achievement in the theater in 1986. His most popular play, and the only one to enter the standard repertory, is The Mystery of Irma Vep, in which two actors manage, through a variety of quick-change techniques, to play seven roles in a send-up of gothic horror novels. The original production featuring Ludlam and his lover Everett Quinton was a tour de force. In order to ensure cross-dressing, rights to perform the play include a stipulation that the actors must be of the same sex. In 1991, Irma Vep was the most produced play in the United States; and in 2003, it became the longest-running play ever produced in Brazil.
Ludlam was diagnosed with AIDS in March 1987. He attempted to fight the disease by putting his lifelong interest in health foods and macrobiotic diet to use. He died a month later of PCP pneumonia in St. Vincent's Hospital, New York. The street in front of his theatre in Sheridan Square was renamed "Charles Ludlam Lane" in his honor.
In 2009, Ludlam was inducted posthumously into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. After his death, "Walter Ego", the ironically named dummy character from Ludlam's play "The Ventriloquist's Wife" was donated to the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, where it remains on exhibit today; the puppet was designed and built by actor and noted puppetmaker Alan Semok.
Ludlam joined John Vaccaro's Play-House of the Ridiculous, and after a falling out, became founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York City in 1967. His first plays were inchoate exercises: however, starting with Bluebeard he began to write more structured works, which, though they were pastiches of gothic novels, Lorca, Shakespeare, Wagner, popular culture, old movies, and anything else that might get a laugh, had more serious import.
Theater critic Brendan Gill after seeing one of Ludlam's plays famously remarked, "This isn't farce. This isn't absurd. This is absolutely ridiculous!".
Yet on his own work Ludlam had commented: "I would say that my work falls into the classical tradition of comedy. Over the years there have been certain traditional approaches to comedy. As a modern artist you have to advance the tradition. I want to work within the tradition so that I don’t waste my time trying to establish new conventions. You can be very original within the established conventions."
Ludlam usually appeared in his plays (particularly noted for his female roles), and had written one of the first plays to deal (though tangentially) with HIV infection. He taught or staged productions at New York University, Connecticut College for Women, Yale University, and Carnegie Mellon University. He won fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. He won six Obie Awards, the last one 2 weeks before his death, and won the Rosamund Gilder Award for distinguished achievement in the theater in 1986. His most popular play, and the only one to enter the standard repertory, is The Mystery of Irma Vep, in which two actors manage, through a variety of quick-change techniques, to play seven roles in a send-up of gothic horror novels. The original production featuring Ludlam and his lover Everett Quinton was a tour de force. In order to ensure cross-dressing, rights to perform the play include a stipulation that the actors must be of the same sex. In 1991, Irma Vep was the most produced play in the United States; and in 2003, it became the longest-running play ever produced in Brazil.
Ludlam was diagnosed with AIDS in March 1987. He attempted to fight the disease by putting his lifelong interest in health foods and macrobiotic diet to use. He died a month later of PCP pneumonia in St. Vincent's Hospital, New York. The street in front of his theatre in Sheridan Square was renamed "Charles Ludlam Lane" in his honor.
In 2009, Ludlam was inducted posthumously into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. After his death, "Walter Ego", the ironically named dummy character from Ludlam's play "The Ventriloquist's Wife" was donated to the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, where it remains on exhibit today; the puppet was designed and built by actor and noted puppetmaker Alan Semok.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 31, 2019
Have I seen the works of Charles Ludlam? I vaguely remember Irma Vep and don’t think I liked it. But that was years ago, probably when it was produced and I was still a snotty child. But he interested me enough to have bought this book years ago, though not to have read it until now. It’s a collection of essays and opinions, not his plays, much of which has been transcribed from interviews. The guy liked to talk and had a lot of opinions, often about how talented and good at his work he was. That can be annoying, if your a proponent of low self-esteem, as I am. But he is entertaining and insightful about humor and art, which won me over. The guy was no idiot and while I’ve moved away from hard lines of what I think is good or not into something that is more open-minded, less critical and perhaps too passive, it’s refreshing to read a man who has made decisions and explains them well. It helps that they’re on target. Mine always seem to miss the mark. Guess it’s time to look up his plays and once again realize what a foolish boy I was.
Displaying 1 of 1 review