Theatre of The Ridiculous - Play-House of The Ridiculous and The Ridiculous Theatrical Company

Play-House of The Ridiculous and The Ridiculous Theatrical Company

The Play-House of the Ridiculous was an underground theater group founded in New York in the mid-1960s, with John Vaccaro as director, originally producing some works written by Ronald Tavel. They began with Shower and The Life of Juanita Castro, which were originally film scenarios intended for Warhol's Factory. When these were rejected by The Factory, Tavel resolved to have them performed as plays, putting them together on a double-bill, under the heading of "Theater of the Ridiculous".

The next production directed by Vaccaro (and the first official production of the Play-House) was in 1967: The Life of Lady Godiva also written by Ronald Tavel. Charles Ludlam – who became a major figure in the "Ridiculous" movement—acted in the play as a last minute replacement.

Vaccaro then produced a play with Ludlam that Ludlam had written earlier: Big Hotel, opening in an East Village loft in February 1967. David Kaufman, discussing the Big Hotel, has said: "Various features of Ludlam's 28 subsequent works figure prominently in his first play. His predilection for collage - folding in cultural references, both popular and obscure - is especially pronounced. Characters include Mata Hari, Trilby, Svengali and Santa Claus, and Ludlam acknowledged no fewer than 40 sources for Big Hotel - everything from ads and Hollywood films to literary classics, textbooks and essays."

Ludlam wrote a second play for the Play-House, Conquest of the Universe, but during production he had a falling-out with Vaccaro. Ludlam left to form his own company The Ridiculous Theatrical Group, taking many of the other actors with him Vaccaro held the rights to Conquest of the Universe, and was able to perform it first, legally delaying the production of Ludlam's competing version (When Queens Collide) for several months.

Vaccaro's Conquest of the Universe was performed at the Bouwerie Lane Theater with many members of Andy Warhol's Factory: Mary Woronov, Taylor Mead, Ondine and Ultra Violet.