The Playwrights Database
CHARLES LUDLAM (1943 - 1987)
Nationality:
USA
email:
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Born in Floral Park, NY on April 12, 1943. Re-ceived drama scholarship to Hofstra University. B.a. in Dramatic Literature, 1965. Writer, director and actor. Founder of The Ridiculous Theatrical Company. appeared in Mark Rappaport's film, The Imposters and is now working on his film, The Sorrows of Dolores. Has conducted many Teaching Workshops. Recipient: Obie award to Charles Ludlam and The Ridiculous Theatrical Company; Second Prize for Bluebeard at Interna-tional avant Garde Theater Festival; Obie award for performances in Corn and Camille; Special Obie award for Professor Bedlam's Educational Punch & Judy Show; Obie award for design, Der Ring Gott Farblonjet; Guggenheim Fellowship; Commission from the NY State Council on the arts; Rockefeller Bros. Grant. Theater panelist, NY. State Council on the arts, two years.
address (in 1981): 55 Morton St., New York, NY 10014
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below is a list of Charles Ludlam's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Adventure Of Karag1Z, The
Artificial Jungle, The
Big Hotel
Bluebeard
Bourgeouis Avant-Garde, Le
Camille
CAprice
Christmas Carol, A
Conquest Of The Universe; Or, When Queens Collide
Corn
Der Ring Gott Farblonjet
Elephant Woman, The
Enchanted Pig, The
Eunuchs Of The Forbidden City
Exquisite Torture
Galas
Grand Tarot, The
Hot Ice
How To Write A Play
Isle Of The Hermaphrodites Or The Murdered Minion
Jack And The Beanstalk
Love's Tangled Web
Medea
Mystery Of Irma Vep, The
Production Of Mysteries, The
Professor Bedlam's Educational Punch &Amp; Judy Show
Reverse Psychology
Salammbo
Secret Life Of The Sexists
Stage Blood
Tabu Tableaux
Turds In Hell
Utopia
Utopia Incorporated
Ventriloquist's Wife, The
Adventure Of Karag1Z, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Festival Mondial de Theatre, Nancy, France 1976
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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-
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Artificial Jungle, The
Synopsis:
man lives in the back of pet shop with his mother and bored wife, they hire a drifter to work in the shop who plots with wife to feed man to the piranhas
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 1986
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1987 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Suspense Thriller
Parts:
Male: 3  Female: 1  Other: extra
Further Reference:
-
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Big Hotel
Synopsis:
Checking into the hotel are Mata Hari; Norma Desmond, Svengali and a suicidal Russian ballerina. Santa Claus checks in too and is murdered.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Gate Theater, NYC 1967
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 12  Female: 10  Other: -
Further Reference:
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Bluebeard
Synopsis:
a drawing room grotesque right out of Bela Lugosi with Noel Coward thrown in for good measure
Notes:
Composer: David Scott
1st Produced:
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in "More Plays From Off-Off Broadway", Bobbs Merrill, Indianapolis, 1972 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 8  Female: 2  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Bourgeouis Avant-Garde, Le
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
an Adaptation of Moliere's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
1st Produced:
- 1983
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 6  Female: 4  Other: -
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Camille
Tubercular courtesan Marguerite Gautier abjures her rich lover, Baron De Varville, and sells all her jewels and furnishings to live in the counry with her true love, poor young armand Duval. Her heart is broken when he agrees to his father's request to abandon him, and returning to her unhealthful life in Paris, she declines rapidly, but is reunited with armand in a deathbed scene that provokes both laughter and tears.
Notes:
Original Playwright - Alexandre Dumas fils (La Dame Aux Camelias). Music And lyrics by Virgil Young
1st Produced:
Thirteenth St. Theater, NYC 23 Nov 1972
Organisations:
Ridiculous Theatrical Company
1st Published:
Music:
-
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Genre:
adaptation. - - Gay/Lesbian, of interest
Parts:
Male: 7  Female: 3  Other: cross-gender casting possible
Further Reference:
-
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CAprice
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
aka Fashion Bound
1st Produced:
The Performing Garage, NYC 1976
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 6  Female: 5  Other: -
Further Reference:
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Christmas Carol, A
a Ridiculous but surprisingly faithful rendition of the Dickens classic in which Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted by the ghosts of his late partner, Jacob Marley, Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come. Faced with his own mortality, and the evil results of his misanthropic, miserly ways, Scrooge is redeemed, reconciled with his nephew and his neighbors, and becomes a second father to his assistant's son, Tiny Tim.
Notes:
adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens
1st Produced:
Ridiculous Theatrical Co., NYC 1979
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Music:
-
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Genre:
adaptation, Holiday Comedy
Parts:
Male: 17  Female: 14  Other: double casting and cross-gender casting possible
Further Reference:
-
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Conquest Of The Universe; Or, When Queens Collide
Synopsis:
Conquest is a comedy of the broadest sort, retelling (sort of) the story of Marlowe's Tamburlaine in a campy, kitschy, over-the-top, in-your-face, nothing-is-sacred style. Ludlam borrows liberally from sources as varied as Hamlet, "B" sci-fi exploitation flicks, and TV commercials to make Conquest a brazen pop culture pastiche; he revels in scatology and profanity, making the work a direct descendant of Jarry's Ubu; and he saturates the script with gender-bending, cross-dressing, queer politicking.
nytheatre.com
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Gate Theater, NYC 1967
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 7  Female: 8  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Corn
Synopsis:
Country and Western superstar Lola Lola arrives back in her hometown, Hicksville. She wants to put on a free concert but Paw Hatfield and Maw McCoy who own the two adjoining fields refuse to let her.
Notes:
music & lyrics by Virgil Young
1st Produced:
Thirteenth St. Theater, NYC 1972
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 4  Female: 5  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Der Ring Gott Farblonjet
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
music by Jack McElwaine; An Adaptation of The Ring Cycle
1st Produced:
Truck and Warehouse Theater, NYC 1977
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 12  Female: 17  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Elephant Woman, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
New York 1979
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: -  Female: -  Other: -
Further Reference:
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Enchanted Pig, The
Synopsis:
camp free combination of King Lear, The frog prince, Cinderella and The Three Sisters
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Ridiculous Theatrical Co., NYC 1979
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1989 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Fairy Tale
Parts:
Male: 7  Female: 5  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Eunuchs Of The Forbidden City
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Berlin 1971
Organisations:
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1st Published:
in "Scripts 6", New York, April, 1972 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 10  Female: 6  Other: -
Further Reference:
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Exquisite Torture
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 1982
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 2  Female: 4  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Galas
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- 1983
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 8  Female: 5  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Grand Tarot, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Millenium Film Workshop, NYC 1969
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 9  Female: 8  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Hot Ice
Synopsis:
The saga of an underground war between the Cryogenic Society (an organization which believes in freezing the dead in the hope of later resuscitation) and the Euthanasia Police (who are devoted to the ideal of the "good death") and is cast in the mold of the gangster epic. This play proved to be something of an expose when it was first performed. On closing night, the man who invented the cryogenic concept voluntarily came up on the stage after the play. Since the play used actors planted in the audience as a device, the audience thought he was part of the play.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Evergreen Theater, NYC 1974
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in "Drama Review", New York, June, 1974 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
full length Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 7  Female: 7  Other: 1 narrator
Further Reference:
-
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How To Write A Play
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 1984
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 9  Female: 7  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Isle Of The Hermaphrodites Or The Murdered Minion
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 1976
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 10  Female: 2  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Jack And The Beanstalk
a Ridiculous retelling of the children's classic. all the familiar elements are there, including Jack, his mother, their cow, the magic beans, the beanstalk, the giant, the giantess, the goose that lays the golden eggs, and the harp that talks, but Ludlam adds his usual mix of wordplay and sight gags - and a very light touch of vegetarian and proletarian rabble-rousing - to create a fresh, thought-provoking, utterly delightful stage version of approximately 45 minutes.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Brooklyn academy, NY 1976
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Music:
-
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Genre:
Childrens Youth audience
Parts:
Male: 4  Female: 3  Other: extras, double casting and cross casting possible
Further Reference:
-
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Love's Tangled Web
Synopsis:
Love and intrigue on the fashionable North Shore of Long Island
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Ridiculous Theatrical Co., NYC 1981
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French Inc, New York 978-0573691263
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 3  Female: 3  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Medea
a succinct deconstruction retains the basic plot about a murderous mother with high camp vision
Notes:
Original Playwright - Euripides
1st Produced:
- 1984
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French Inc, New York 978-0573670480
Music:
-
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Genre:
adaptation
Parts:
Male: 2  Female: 3  Other: extras
Further Reference:
-
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Mystery Of Irma Vep, The
Synopsis:
Quick change action from Hampstead to Egypt
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
New York 1984
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1984 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Penny Dreadful
Parts:
Male: 2  Female: -  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Production Of Mysteries, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Bennington, Vermont 1980
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: -  Female: -  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Professor Bedlam's Educational Punch &Amp; Judy Show
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Evergreen Theater, NYC -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: -  Female: -  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Reverse Psychology
Synopsis:
psychiatrist couple each having an affair with a patient of the other
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Ridiculous Theatrical Co., NYC 1980
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1989 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Farce
Parts:
Male: 2  Female: 2  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Salammbo
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 1985
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 6  Female: 2  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Secret Life Of The Sexists
Synopsis:
Nadine has left Buddy. Buddy discovers her mother Zena Grossfinger a stripper and sets her up with a beauty parlour. His brother Izzy is having problems with his wife Fanny. Fanny has found out he has been seeing Zena - but she does not know that Zena is her mother. Buddy finds Nadine having sex with Phil - Zena's assistant. Buddy, Izzy and Phil dress up as women and infiltrate a feminist meeting
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 1982
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 3  Female: 3  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Stage Blood
Synopsis:
family acting company continuously tours hamlet in the USA, father, now playing the ghost tries to make his son the Hamlet he was
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Evergreen Theater, NYC 1974
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in "Theatre of the Ridiculous", Performing arts Journal Publications, New York, 1979 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 5  Female: 2  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Tabu Tableaux
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- 1975
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: -  Female: -  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Turds In Hell
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
written with Bill Vehr; An Adaptation of The Satyricon
1st Produced:
Gate Theater, NYC 1969
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in "Drama Review", New York, September, 1970 -
Music:
-
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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 10  Female: 5  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Utopia
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 3  Female: 5  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Utopia Incorporated
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
New York 1978
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: -  Female: -  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Ventriloquist's Wife, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Cabaret, NYC 1978
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 1  Female: 1  Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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