Ridiculous alum Black-Eyed Susan will give a special performance, and other veterans of the troupe, including Lola Pashalinski, will be on hand, along with artists influenced by Ridiculous.
The program takes place at the Library's Bruno Walter Auditorium, located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. Admission is free.
The panel includes Ridiculous Theatrical Company veteran Lola Pashalinski, Ludlam's biographer and theatre critic David Kaufman, Argentinean visual artist and photographer Leandro Katz, and "glitter" artist Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt. Joe E. Jeffreys, a theatre studies teacher at New York University and Stony Brook University and a theatre reviewer, will moderate.
"Charles Ludlam was a founder, playwright, director and lead actor for the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, the counterculture Off-Broadway theatre he led for two decades," according to the Library for the Performing Arts. "He wrote, directed, designed, and starred in about 30 plays at the company. Categorized in the realm of queer theatre, his pieces and performances employed many elements of camp and gay camp, including drag."
A spoof of Gothic horror movies, The Mystery of Irma Vep (1984) was Ludlam's most well-known (and perhaps most mainstream) play. It is regularly performed around the country. Ludlam was diagnosed with AIDS in November 1986 and died May 28, 1987.
In addition to the discussion panel, the Library for the Performing Arts is displaying "Bedlam Days: The Early Plays of Charles Ludlam and The Ridiculous Theatrical Company" until March 5.
The exhibit comprises 67 photographs by one of the panel speakers, Leandro Katz, who documented Ludlam's productions. The Library's Billy Rose Theatre Collection houses Ludlam's papers, scripts and notebooks.
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is at 40 Lincoln Plaza, which is west of Broadway and Columbus Avenue from 62nd to 65th Street. The Library is between the Metropolitan Opera House and the Vivian Beaumont Theater.
Seating is unreserved, on a first-come, first-served basis.
