Evangelos Alexiou and Christos Alexandridis perform a total of eight characters in the Off-Broadway play, “The Mystery of Irma Vep”, now playing at the Greek Cultural Center in Astoria. If you need a laugh, hurry to Astoria’s Greek Cultural Center to catch their zany revival of Charles Ludlam’s “The Mystery of Irma Vep” before it sells out. The comedy, which has had two successful Off-Broadway runs, is a hilarious take on the twisted plots so popular in Gothic melodrama. Versatile actors Evangelos Alexiou and Christos Alexandridis play a total of eight characters between them including a secretive maid named Jane, a leering manservant Igor, their haunted master Lord Edgar, his anxious second wife Lady Alma, an Egyptian guide, an alluring mummy brought back to life, a murderous monster and the mysterious Irma Vep herself. There are references to horror films and literary classics like “Frankenstein” and “Jane Eyre”. A werewolf and a vampire are thrown into the mix to scare the audience in an entertaining fashion.

The play is performed in Greek with English super-titles making this a language crossover production since there is a translation of every line spoken by the actors during the two-hour performance. Even though I understand only a few words of Greek, the easy-to-read super-titles made it possible for me to keep up with the fast-paced story and Ludlam’s many witty lines.

Alexiou and Alexandridis co-directed the production and also collaborated on the creative sets and costumes. The actors have irresistible chemistry no matter which outlandish characters they are playing and know just when to push their comic acting into campy territory as playwright Ludlam intended. I was particularly impressed by both actors’ spot-on physical characterizations, switching effortlessly from simpering lady to brutish servant or scheming maid to overbearing lord of the manor. The Egyptian scenes are a delight, and Alexandridis is a scream to watch.

The Greek Cultural Center’s new comfortable 60-seat theater is on the lower level of a residential building at 26-80 30th St., in Astoria.

“The Mystery of Irma Vep” runs through December 12, with performances every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. For more information, call 718-726-7329 or email reservations@greekculturalcenter.org.