Venus in Fur
(Venus im Pelz)
A wickedly ingenious erotic comedy by David Ives
16th May 2014 – 4th July 2014
You don’t have to tell me about sadomasochism. I’m in the theater.
Vanda, an unusually talented young actress, is determined to land the lead in a new play based on the classic erotic novel, ‘Venus in Fur’ by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (after whom the term “masochism” was coined). Her emotionally charged audition for Thomas, the gifted but demanding playwright/director, becomes an electrifying game of cat and mouse blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, seduction and power, love and sex. Venus in Fur is funny but also something darker, stranger and altogether more delicious: a suspense-packed study of the erotics (and the semiotics) of power.
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Special offer: two plays for only €48
For the first time, the English Theatre is staging a double feature, allowing you to watch the same cast shine in two different plays – for one low price. In The Collector, you’ll see the leading man gain control over the leading lady. A few nights later, watch as she gets her revenge in Venus in Fur.
“Nifty, skillfully wrought entertainment, an enjoyable game of kitten-with-a-whip and mouse.” New York Times
“Venus in Fur” provides a seriously smart and very funny stage seminar on the destabilizing nature of sexual desire: vanilla-flavored, kink-festooned or anything in between. New York Times
“Wildly intelligent and sometimes frightening.”New Yorker
“A smart scoopful of fun, a delectably compressed actors’ pas-de-deux.” The Washington Post
Venus in Fur won a Tony for Best Actress in a Leading Role and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.
Wanda, eine außerordentlich begabte, junge Schauspielerin, ist entschlossen die Hauptrolle in einem auf dem erotischen Roman „Venus im Pelz“ (von Leoplod Sacher-Masoch nach dem der Begriff Masochismus geprägt wurde) basierenden Theaterstück zu ergattern. Ihr ungestümes Vorsprechen bei dem talentierten und anspruchsvollen Autor/Regisseur Thomas wird zu einem elektrisierenden Katz- und Mausspiel. Die Grenzen zwischen Fantasie und Realität, Verführung und Macht, Liebe und Sex verwischen sich. „Venus in Fur“ ist witzig, aber auch dunkel, fremd und insgesamt überaus deliziös: Eine spannungsvolle Studie über die Erotik (und Semiotik) der Macht.
