Lord Edgar Hillcrest's bosomy new bride is having a perfectly ghastly time adjusting to life on the manor. The portrait of Edgar's previous wife is watching her every move, as is the randy, peg-legged stable boy, and the starchy, high and mighty maid with her beady little eyes.

Lord Edgar Hillcrest's bosomy new bride is having a perfectly ghastly time adjusting to life on the manor. The portrait of Edgar's previous wife is watching her every move, as is the randy, peg-legged stable boy, and the starchy, high and mighty maid with her beady little eyes.

As supernatural forces encircle the foggy moors which surround Mandacrest Mansion, one question keeps returning to Lady Enid's terrified, quivering lips - Who - or what - is IRMA VEP?

With a werewolf, a mummy, a vampire, insomnia, prosthetic limbs, silly walks, a really big mystery, vaudeville and melodrama, The Mystery of Irma Vep is an outrageous parody of the gothic penny dreadful. On at Silo Theatre from 10 November, the show features two of our greatest theatrical show-offs: Oliver Driver and Michael Hurst. Directed by Jennifer Ward-Lealand, this velcro-ripping, bodice-busting romp takes satiric swipes at Victorian novels, B-grade Hollywood flicks, and the very process of entertainment itself.