“Written by Joey Merlo and performed by off-kilter-theater royalty David Greenspan—embodies exactly the kind of gutsy weirdness and rich, invigorating audience connection that can arise from the challenge of a limited set of tools… Joey Merlo’s cunning, captivating On Set With Theda Bara first lit its murky lights at the Brick a year ago — and now, in a heartening example of institutional collaboration, the Transport Group and the Lucille Lortel Theatre have pitched in as presenters to bring it back for an encore performance. Merlo and his director, Jack Serio—who himself is working hard on ubiquity—dive straight into the delicious sea of high camp and long shadows that noir provides. On Set With Theda Bara is a solo performer’s fever dream, and Greenspan—a six-time Obie winner and a nonpareil of the extended soliloquy—steps into its bejeweled slippers with virtuosic ease. How many of these characters are “real,” or if they exist as a kind of psychological matryoshka, is a question Merlo leaves wrapped in plumes of cigarette smoke — or perhaps in whorls of movie-set fog. The delight of On Set With Theda Bara doesn’t lie in trying to flip the light on and assemble its various pieces in orderly fashion. That would do a violence to the dimly lit magic of the world where Theda—like Blanche DuBois and a host of queer queens before and after her—resides. Rather, the show’s real thrill exists in its alchemy of atmosphere and performance, which is by turns haunting; aching with overcharged, Norma Desmond–ish ennui; and refreshingly funny. The fact that Finale is gay (he and his husband “always wanted a little girl” he says), but can’t quite wrap his head around “genderqueer” is characteristic of the play’s bittersweet little bursts of emotional realism amidst its broader flow of crepuscular mystery… 

Even though Greenspan both feeds on and gives back to the audience, Merlo is fascinated by the place at which that electric, sustaining flow starts to short circuit, tipping out of balance toward something sinister. The word “vamp” derives from “vampire,” and at the dark, soft heart of On Set With Theda Bara is a contemplation of the ways in which we create our own idols and our own monsters. Does a woman become a vamp because she feeds on men, on her fans, on anyone that crosses her path? Or because everyone who’s crossed her path has been a kind of parasite — forcing themselves and their adoration upon her, crawling inside her and reshaping her in the desired image, from her name to her kohl-rimmed eyes? What does it mean when a version of you that’s not you achieves immortality? Who’s draining whose blood? As Theda Bara builds to its theatrical coup, it provides no solid answers. Nothing is solid here, in this room of mirrors and shadows, but everything is more exciting in the dark.” - Sara Holdren, Vulture

Starring David Greenspan

Directed by Jack Serio

Frank J. Oliva (set), Stacey Derosier (lighting), Avery Reed (costumes), Brandon Bulls (sound), Ryan Kane (stage manager).

“Entirely fascinating! Greenspan gives a wild ride of a performance.” -  Laura Collins-Hughes, NY Times

“In Joey’s floridly contempo-queeny stylings, cliches meet cliches with cannibalistic ferocity, as the play’s quartet of queers—all played by the virtuosic actor-playwright David Greenspan—become exponentially queerer in their pursuits for one another.” - Jess Barbagallo, The Brooklyn Rail

“Phantasmal essences shift in your peripheral vision, and a chill breath finds the back of your neck.” - Helen Shaw, The New Yorker

“The stories of Theda, Finale, Iras and Ulysses fused in a whirlwind of Merlo’s redolent language.” - Joel Benjamin, TheaterScene

“★★★★ -Joey Merlo's hour-long fun fantasy, directed to a jaunty fare-thee-well by Jack Serio” - David Finkle, NY Stage Review

Photo Credit: Emilio Madrid