At Mandercrest on the moors, the rain is pouring, the werewolf is howling, the wind is moaning, and the audience is groaning. In other words, it is as it should be with The Mystery of Irma Vep, closing the Shelterhouse season at Playhouse in the Park.

        Vep is playwright Charles Ludlam's lunatic send-up of Gothic romance (there's more than a touch of Mrs. Danvers in housekeeper Jane), '30s horror film and even Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road movies (which seem to be the inspiration for the repartee that induces delighted groans from the audience).

        The glue that holds the send-up together is that Vep is performed by two actors. They trot through a series of quick changes to become the aforementioned housekeeper, a caretaker with a wooden leg, bizarre Egyptologist Lord Edgar, Lord Edgar's remarkably unattractive new bride, an Egyptian con man, a remarkably unattractive ancient Egyptian princess (who bears a strange resemblance to Lord Edgar's remarkably unattractive bride).

        Together they enact a convoluted mystery about strange doings at the moor-side manse. When the going gets tough, the tough get going to an Egyptian tomb to pad out the action to two acts.

        Vep was supposed to open last Thursday, but the Playhouse stayed dark like everything else in Cincinnati until Saturday's early (5 p.m.) performance. A curfew joke won a spontaneous round of applause from the audience.

        This is a perfectly affable Vep. The first act would be better if the tone didn't keep shifting ever so slightly and if the actors didn't quite so slyly enjoy the show's joke.

        The actors WINK! WINK! WINK! at the audience. Guess what, guys (including director Michael Haney). We get it. We get it!

        Greg McFadden (he's the short one) and Remi Sandri (he's not the short one) leap into the frantic nonsense. Both of their performances get first-rate support by their dressers, who make all those giggle-inducing quick changes possible.

        A good time is had by all, and on Saturday afternoon, after a tense week, it was clear that a good time was needed by all. Vep is like a restorative tonic, exactly the right show at the right time.

        The Mystery of Irma Vep, extended through May 18, Playhouse in the Park Shelterhouse. 421-3888.

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