Written By David Ives
Directed by Caroline
Stacey
The Street Theatre to
2 September
Reviewed by Len Power 22
August 2018
‘You don’t have to tell me about sado-masochism. I’m in the theatre’, says one of the
characters in the play ‘Venus in Fur’.
David Ives’ tricky play-within-a-play is an adaptation of the 1870 novel
‘Venus in Furs’ by the Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. The content of the novel inspired psychiatrist
Krafft-Ebbing to coin the term ‘masochism’ in 1886 in his book, ‘Psychopathia
Sexualis’, one of the first texts about sexual pathology.
In the play, the adapter of the ‘Venus In Furs’ novel, writer-director,
Thomas Novachek, is having difficulty casting the role of the aristocratic lead
character, Wanda von Dunayev. During a
fierce thunderstorm, an actress, Vanda Jordan, bursts in and demands to
audition for the role. She seems an
unlikely possibility for the part, but Novachek reluctantly agrees to read the
role of Severin von Kushemski with her. For
an auditionee, the actress seems to have a strangely strong grasp of the character
and the lines of the play already. An
intriguing cat-and-mouse game of theatre, sexual politics and revelations begins.
The director, Caroline Stacey, has produced a fine
production of this internationally popular play that was first produced
off-Broadway in 2010. A spectacular and
detailed set by Imogen Keen represents what is probably the backstage area of a
theatre. Verity Hampson’s intricate
lighting design and Kyle Sheedy’s haunting sound design both help to create a
compelling atmosphere for this play where all may not be what it seems.
 |
| Craig Alexander and Joanna Richards |
Both actors, Craig Alexander and Joanna Richards, enact the sexual
games of the play with intensity, courage and believability. Joanna Richards impresses with the roughness
of the auditioning actress and the refinement of her period character and her ability
to swiftly change between them. Craig
Alexander gives strong performances as both the exasperated director and his
period character and plays the gradual loss of control very well.
 |
| Joanna Richards and Craig Alexander |
Caroline Stacey keeps the play moving at a good pace and has
achieved fine, in-depth performances from her two actors. There were moments when the dialogue was not
as clear as it should have been, especially when the characters, speaking with accents,
were required to talk softly or when they were turned away from the audience.
This is an intensely entertaining and, at times, funny adult
play that has a lot to say about period and contemporary sexual politics. The twists and turns of the plot will have
you guessing right up until the end.
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast in his ‘On Stage’ performing arts radio program on Mondays
and Wednesdays from 3.30pm on Artsound FM 92.7.
