The Third Rail Repertory Theatre will put on what it calls “perhaps the funniest American play of the past 25 years” beginning today at Portland’s Winningstad Theatre.

Charles Ludlam wrote “The Mystery of Irma Vep” in 1984, 17 years after he founded The Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York. In the play, two actors play a total of eight characters. Lord Edgar, an Egyptologist, and his wife, Lady Enid, go to Egypt to seek answers after Enid is attacked by a vampire. Edgar manages to resurrect an Egyptian princess and bring her sarcophagus back home. Once home, Edgar obsesses over the werewolf that he blames for the death of his son and first wife, Irma Vep. The hilarity that ensues is a prime example of the ridiculousness that came out of Ludlam’s Ridiculous theater company.

Third Rail Repertory Theatre was established in 2003 out of a “desire to deliver artistic excellence to Portland audiences on a consistent basis,” according to the company’s website. The theatre is made up of a permanent core ensemble, members of which have been able to get to know each other to the extent that “great risks can be taken quickly, and thus great dramatic (and comic) potential is tapped,” the site says.

The director of “The Mystery of Irma Vep,” Philip Cuomo, says the play has given the Third Rail ensemble the chance to “embrace high-wire derring-do and stretch our imaginations in order to create (Ludlam’s) amazing, ridiculous world.”

“The Mystery of Irma Vep” runs Dec. 5-Jan. 10 at Winningstad Theatre in Portland. Tickets range from $40.50 to $50.50 with discounts for students and seniors. For more information and to purchase tickets go to www.portland5.com or call 800-273-1530.

— Reporter: 541-383-0350, kmccool@bendbulletin.com