Review: (Winnipeg) Venus in Fur

Allison Brennan, Matthew Edison (photo by Dylan Hewlett)

Topping from the Bottom
How do I know when the scene is over?
by Edgar Governo
@pseudohistorian

When we go to the theatre, we are consenting as an audience to a particular dynamic with those who are putting on a performance, and this is unique in theatre compared to works of fiction in other media because the performers are there in the space with us as this dynamic unfolds--we give ourselves over to a suspension of disbelief while the cast is aware of us.

Although this is rarely negotiated explicitly, we attend a specific play with certain expectations, just as we do with a new partner, a new relationship--or a new kink scene. When a play does not meet our expectations, that can be a great thing (discovering an evocative piece of art is like discovering something new that turns you on) or it can be upsetting, whether we are merely disappointed or because we feel that what we have implicitly negotiated (through a play's advertising, for instance) has been violated. Some common examples of this are when a play turns out not to be in its announced genre and when a show unexpectedly includes audience participation; the latter can be especially unsettling because it also violates an understood boundary between performer and audience.

Sunday Feature: Rick Miller on Venus in Fur and "Comfort"

‘COMFORT’

by Rick Miller (photos by David Hou)

“You don't have to tell me about sadomasochism. I'm in the theatre!”

(from Venus in Fur, a play by David Ives, 

adapted from the novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch)

Judging from the photo above, the idea of ‘comfort’ seems an appropriate lens through which to examine Venus in Fur, the play I’m currently co-starring in with Carly Street at Canadian Stage in Toronto. This Tony Award-winning two-hander by playwright David Ives is now the most produced play in the United States, and it’s easy to see why. It’s smart, sexy and seductively entertaining, while tapping into ongoing debates about gender inequality, power struggles and sexual mores.

CanStage artistic director Matthew Jocelyn uses the word “labyrinthine” when speaking about Venus in Fur. It’s an apt description, in that the play leads us through a jarring set of twist and turns as it spirals to its quasi-mythical climax. The ‘comfort zone’ that is established early on with the audience slowly dissolves and becomes more and more unsettling and uncomfortable. When the lights come up from the final blackout and we settle back into the familiarity of a curtain call, Carly and I both feel the rush of having taken the audience – and ourselves – on an incredible ride.

Review: (Vancouver) Venus in Fur

Vincent Gale, Lindsey Angell (photo by David Cooper)

A Positively Riveting Performance by Ms. Angell
An intellectual battle of the sexes.
by David C. Jones

There are so many twists and changes and reveals in this show I don’t want to give anything away. It’s a handsome and stylish production of a 2010 award-winning script by David Ives that is being produced all across North America. The brilliant David Mackay directs it and he has cast the two-hander with great actors.

Thomas Novachek has just finished a round of auditions for a play that he wrote based on an 1870 novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. The story concerns sadomasochism and the sophisticated yet passionate people who engage. He is ranting on the phone because all the actresses he has seen can’t come close to the class and mystery of the lead character Wanda von Dunajew.

Review: (Toronto) Venus in Fur

Rick Miller, Carly Street (photo by David Hou)

All hail Aphrodite!
…Venus in Fur is sublime
by Dave Ross

What is S&M? I’m fairly certain the average person on the street has heard of it, but can they define it? I expect not. My own definition is loose – I understand that S&M exists in the tension between dominance and submission. It isn’t necessarily sexual, but isn’t entirely non-sexual either. Does it involve leather? Perhaps. Does it involve pain? Not always. S&M exists in one of those murky areas, a kink for many, a mainstay for some. It is nearly impossible to nail down, but is defined by the tensions that exist between two polar opposites.