Texas Public Radio feature: Venus in Fur by David Ives, Playhouse San Antonio, January 24 - February 9, 2014

in San Antonio

'Venus In Fur,' The Playhouse's Sexy And Cerebral Show That's Not For The Kids


by Jack Morgan

Click to listen to audio version at Texas Public Radio

The Playhouse is about to begin a play that is raising a few eyebrows because of what the play is about.


"'Venus in Fur' is a play adaptation by David Ives of the novel published first in German in 1870 by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch," said John O’Neil, who directs the production.


But there’s no getting around it, the show is about sex.


"Sexy, erotic, sensuous, but not trashy, if that makes any sense," O’Neil said.


And while eros plays a real role here, there’s no nudity in the play. But O'Neil did say there is plenty of humor.


"I think it’s incredibly funny," he said. "So you have this modern comedy set within the confines of this 1870 very serious, very, almost melodramatic novel. I think the play asks has that much really changed in sexual politics or how we wield power in any two-person relationship."


It’s a play-within-a-play, wherein its two cast members play a total of six characters. O'Neil raves about his actors.


"I’m sorry if I can’t rave enough about Michael Holly and Kaycie Griffin," he said. "I fell in love with both of them at auditions and I love them even more now because they are two excellent actors who really get the essence."


From his description, there’s a lot going on and a much of that isn’t so much physical as mental. And O’Neil’s throws in this tantalizing tidbit of info:


"And at the end of the play there is a victor…but I think I’ll withhold that."


That and Lou Reed’s connection to the play will only be revealed by going.

Venus in Fur by David Ives, Austin Playhouse, January 3 - 25, 2014 (Review No.1)

 







by Dr. David Glen Robinson

 Venus in Fur by David Ives is a new, highly regarded American play making the rounds of theatres in Texas and across the nation. It's currently playing at Austin Playhouse, Austin’s singular shopping mall theatre, through January 25^th. Austin Playhouse is calling it an off-season play and discounting its ticket price for its initial run. Theatre-goers won’t want to miss this one.

The setting is a rented rehearsal studio in Manhattan, where a young playwright named Thomas (Gray G. Haddock) is holding auditions for a self-production of his new play. It's based on Leopold Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel Venus in Furs, the Bible and Sears Catalog of fetish masochism. Auditions have not gone well. Every scheduled actor has come and gone, and none were any good.

Then the door opens and for a few seconds nobody enters. A woman steps in with a duffel bag of costumes and says she is there to audition. Her name is Vanda (Molly Karrasch); what a coincidence, so is that of the female character in Thomas’ play. Impossible, Thomas says; he would have noticed if that same name were on the audition list . Vanda says her agent failed to call him; she’s ready to read. She pulls out the full script from her duffel instead of the few sections of text called audition sides normally made available to auditioners. Thomas asks how she got the entire script; it hasn’t been released yet. She says she doesn’t know. She says she glanced through the script on the subway coming over, but when she starts reading, she doesn’t bother to look at the script. She recites the lines of the play perfectly, in character.

In these first minutes of the play, playwright Ives is more than telegraphing the audience that absolutely nothing in this rehearsal studio is as it seems. We’ve been warned. Thomas mistrusts Vanda. Vanda mistrusts Thomas. The audience mistrusts Ives. Ives mistrusts Sacher-Masoch. And a great night of theatre is had by all.

Gray G. Haddock, Molly Karrasch (photo: Christopher Loveless)

The action of the play addresses, plainly and directly, the shifts in dominance between men and women. Layers of plot and nuance are added on from the very beginning like diaphanous veils floating down to drape the set and actors. The script addresses the contest between actors and directors, men and women, upper and lower classes, masters and slaves. Bondage fetishism is explored only as a high-stakes game born of all these contests and mined for its metaphoric value in illuminating them. This is Ives’ tribute to the excess and art of Sacher-Masoch. Never forget the exquisite pain.

The alternation of the polarity of dominance accelerates throughout the play, reversing subtly or boldly but always satisfyingly and with plausibility. The characters step back and forth between the rehearsal hall and the play within the play. Eventually these changes describe a very clear vector that brings us to understand why Thomas the playwright had to write the play and accept the seismic changes wrought in him by it, with assistance -- control -- by Vanda. 

Read more at Central Texas Live Theatre

(*) Video Promo: Venus in Fur by David Ives, Playhouse San Antonio, January 24 - February 9, 2014

Posted at the Playhouse San Antonio YouTube channel:

(photo by Siggi Ragnar, video by Rick Sanchez)

Click to go to Playhouse San Antonio website for tickets

VENUS IN FUR by David Ives, Austin Playhouse, January 3 - 25, 2013

Gray G. Haddock, Molly Karrasch (photo: Christopher Loveless)

Austin Playhouse presents
Venus in Fur by David Ives, directed by Lara Toner
January 3rd – 25th, 2014

Thursdays–Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m.

Venus in Fur is rated R. Strictly adults only.
Austin Playhouse at Highland Mall, 6001 Airport Blvd., Austin, TX 78752 (click for map)
Tickets $24 Thursdays/Fridays, $26 Saturdays/Sundays
at 512.476.0084 or online at: www.austinplayhouse.com
All student tickets are half-price. $3 discount for Seniors 65 and up.
Limited Pick-Your-Price Rush tickets will be available at the box office one hour prior to showtime for each Thursday performance.

Dubbed “90 minutes of good, kinky fun” by The New York Times, the smash Broadway hit makes its Austin debut in a delicious new production.

All he needs is the perfect leading lady-a goddess of desire-to bring his vision to life. Thomas, a talented but demanding young writer, has meticulously adapted Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 19th century erotic novel, Venus in Fur, into a brilliant new play, but he can’t find the right woman for the role. When Vanda, a scattered young actress, arrives several hours late to her audition, Thomas is unimpressed. However, Vanda soon wins over the unwitting director with her strange mastery of the material and her alarming insights into his deepest desires. Suddenly the simple audition becomes a titillating game of cat and mouse. Who leads in the dance between fantasy and reality, love and lust, seduction and submission? Venus in Fur is a sharp, hysterical romp through the treacherous politics of sex and power.

Venus in Fur stars Austin Playhouse Acting Company members Molly Karrasch as Vanda and Gray G. Haddock as Thomas. The play is directed by Lara Toner, with set design by Patrick Crowley, lighting design by Don Day, and sound design by Joel Mercado-See.

Venus in Fur opened on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on November 8, 2011 and received Tony Award nominations for Best Play and Best Actress in a Play. The play is the first of two David Ives plays being produced in Austin Playhouse’s 2013-2014 Season. The second is Ives’ adaptation of Pierre Corneille’s 17th century farce The Liar running February 7 – March 9, 2014.

Gray G. Haddock, Molly Karrasch (photo: Christopher Loveless)

Auditions in San Antonio for Venus in Fur by David Ives, Playhouse San Antonio, November 4, 2013

Auditions for Venus in Fur by David Ives, directed by John O'Neill, BY APPOINTMENT ONLY on Monday, November 4, 2013 at the Cellar Theater, Playhouse San Antonio. Appoints available beginning at 6:00 p.m. Click Here to request an audition appointment. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to appointment to check in.Call backs BY INVITATION ONLY Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.


No prepared material is required. Actors should expect cold readings in pairs or small groups. Sides provided. Bring 1 headshot and resume.

Actors are stongly advised to read the play prior to auditions. The Playhouse will not provide copies for perusal. Ladies: Vanda will be wearing nothing but bra, panties, and garter belt on stage at times during this production. By auditioning, you are consenting to these costume requirements.

Performances at Cellar Theater, January 24-February 9, 2014, Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 3:00 p.m. AND 8:00 p.m.

Characters

Thomas: Male, 30-ish, up-and-coming writer/director with high standards for himself and his work. Very intelligent, entitled, tortured, and masculine. Must be able to portray the character in the play he is directing (a 19th century Austrian aristocrat obsessed with his maid).

Vanda: Female, mid-20s, actress who seems ditzy but is actually very intelligent and manipulative. Highly charismatic and sexual. Must be able to switch from “flighty actress” to seductive goddess on a dime.