Arts and Entertainment

Review: 'Venus in Fur' at Cyrano's is a smart, sexy escapade

David Ives' "Venus in Fur" is not a regular play. Rather, it is a delightfully confusing 95-minute comedic scene about casting for another play that is based on a book. Much like watching the movie "Inception," a certain effort is required simply to untangle which play you are watching and to track the myriad internal references.

There are only two characters. The show opens with Thomas, an angsty middle-aged playwright talking on the phone after a day of failed auditions for the eponymous play-within-a-play, "Venus in Fur," which he has adapted from a novel about a dominatrix and her love servant. But before Thomas leaves for the day, our second character, failing actress Vanda, arrives frazzled, late for her audition for the part of -- get this -- a character named Vanda.

Are you still with me?

As the show progresses, Thomas reads lines with Vanda, reluctantly at first. But once Vanda shows an impressive command of the material, Thomas perks up, and in turn chemistry spikes on stage. The line between audition and real life begins to blur as Thomas and Vanda explore the power dynamics and sexual tensions that exist between the characters in the internal play -- and also between director and actress, man and woman, old and young. Over time, Vanda reveals not only a surprising mastery of her lines, but also of the source material and, in an especially unnerving turn, certain personal details about Thomas.

Early on, the audience is led to wonder what "Venus in Fur" is trying to say about sex and relationship roles, particularly when a pantomimed whip makes an appearance. Does male privilege functionally proscribe relationship equality? Does submission ultimately lead to power? But that's just a cover; even Vanda notes at one point that the examination is a tad shallow, something out of Gender Studies 101. But as the play progresses, the audience is refocused on one question: "Who is Vanda?"

The reveal is worth the wait.

While waiting, though, the audience is not bored. The two actors, Aaron Wiseman and Colby Bleicher, bring an impassioned focus to a performance piece that offers no intermission or scene changes to regroup. An actor's primary task is to convey a story to an audience; Wiseman and Bleicher did an admirable job despite an astounding degree of difficulty.

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And they didn't seem to mind. "It's a great script, full of intense, complex conversations," said Bleicher in an interview after the show. "It is a challenge to elevate those words into who these characters are."

Wiseman echoed Bleicher's enthusiasm for complexity. "What drew me in were the layers," said Wiseman. "It's smart, sexy and fun."

VENUS IN FUR will be presented at Cyrano's Playhouse 7 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, with a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee, through June 13. Tickets are available at centertix.net.

Venus in Fur

Where: Cyrano's Off Center Playhouse

Tickets: alaskapac.centertix.net/eventperformances.asp?evt=1466

When: June 5-7 and June 11-13

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