THE ARTIFICIAL JUNGLE
I went to see The Artificial Jungle in 1986 at the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York–it was the 29th play Charles Ludlam had written for his company, formed nearly 20 years earlier. As usual, Ludlam played the lead. And as usual, the cast included a man playing a woman. Ethyl Eichelberger, a strapping six-footer, played the mother of a nerdy pet-store owner (Ludlam). When she discovered how her son had been murdered, she expressed her rage by jumping straight up into the air, doing a back flip, and landing squarely on her feet. The memory of Eichelberger in his dowdy dress executing that astonishing flip still makes me laugh.
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But as it turns out these ingredients are not essential after all, as Raven Theatre’s fine production of The Artificial Jungle demonstrates. In this version, directed by Steve Fedoruk, the mother is played by Esther McCormick, a (female) member of the Raven ensemble, and her son, Chester Nurdiger, is played by Chuck Spencer. His performance bears no resemblance to Ludlam’s, yet this Artificial Jungle remains a clever, engaging, and wonderfully ridiculous spoof of Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and other film noir classics.
