Venus in Fur: Pelts and Power Play

by Jenni Morin

Ever since Leopold von Sacher-Masoch penned his 1870 novel Venus in Furs, his name has been synonymous with masochism and the fascinating subculture practicing sexual dominance and subjugation. Perhaps for further probing, playwright David Ives deconstructed Sacher-Masoch’s work in his 2010 play Venus in Fur, an undeniably ferocious and tantalizing battle of the sexes, now showing at The Playhouse’s Cellar Theater through February 9.

Ives brilliantly uses the play within a play technique to dissect Sacher-Masoch’s story of Severin von Kusiemski and Wanda von Dunajew. As playwright and director Thomas Novachek prepares to leave after a day of disappointing and mindless auditions for the female lead, Vanda Jordan arrives and convinces him to read with her for her audition, despite exhibiting all the unfavorable and aggravating characteristics of the flighty actresses before her. Throughout the audition, Vanda reveals she has more knowledge of the play and its inspiration than she originally let on while simultaneously making her identity more ambiguous. Roles are reversed and the line between the characters’ reality and that of Thomas’ play begin to blur as they succumb to a sultry power play.

Michael Holley as Thomas and Kacey Griffin as Vanda in The Playhouse's Venus in Fur. Photo by Siggi Ragnar.

Director John O’Neill expertly uses space, tone and subtlety to allow this metatheatrical piece to unfold. The dialogue is treated as an intricate dance with mirrors where the characters reflect the roles they’ve adopted and then reflect each other, all along dropping nearly imperceptible clues and feverish anticipation to the inevitable ending. Both Michael Holley as Thomas and Kacey Griffin as Vanda command the stage in their dual roles. Just as a dominant needs a submissive to be complete, these two complement and provoke each other for a titillating and humorous performance. Holley and Griffin maneuver the play’s twists and turns with unbridled boldness.

The set, designed by Abigail Entsminger, is a fitting canvas for Kaitlin Muse’s slow seductive lighting transitions. The evocative hues rise up Wanda’s neck as if mimicking the character blushing, then reality washes over Thomas and Vanda with a florescent imitation just as they approach a point of no return. Combined with Pat Smith’s seemingly coincidental, yet poignant sound effects and Sophia Bolles’ impeccable costuming, the design elements brought the production full circle with great intuition. The Playhouse’s production of Venus in Fur is a rapturous dramatic comedy full of innuendo, insight and seduction.

Thomas and Vanda improvise a scene between Kusiemski and Venus. Photo by Siggi Ragnar.

Ives uses the characters in the play to preemptively reject the anthropological and sociological commentary about S&M and sexual relations altogether. They even broach the issues themselves as Thomas argues for love and binding passion and Vanda insists his script is sexist and a man’s submission is an inherent trick, taking advantage of woman’s fragility. Ives is not looking to make a statement about feminism, gender roles, or even sex, but he does drill other themes of human nature through repetition. He challenges “professed principles” by urging people to admit their nature or change it and insists people have the capacity for freedom by being more easily extricable. With so many parallels between Thomas’ script and the audition dynamic, it stands to reason Ives draws parallels between his characters and the very nature of actors, then extends those parallels beyond the stage, putting a mirror up to the audience. In the end, Ives leaves a few definitive pieces of the play to drive it home: the women of The Bacchae ripping Pentheus to shreds, the biblical quote “And the Lord hath smitten him and delivered him into a woman’s hands,” and finally, Vanda’s line, “You can’t have Venus in Fur without Venus.”


Venus in Fur will run at The Playhouse’s Cellar Theater through February 9, 2014 with performances at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; and 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Sundays. This production contains strong language and adult themes. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit theplayhousesa.org.

The Mountaintop: MLK the man

by Jenni Morin

At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. The day before, Dr. King attended a rally for sanitation workers on strike and delivered his “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” speech, the namesake for Katori Hall’s 2009 play The Mountaintop now playing through February 9 at the Little Carver Civic Center Theatre presented by The Renaissance Guild and The Carver Community Cultural Center.

The Mountaintop is a fictional account of the civil rights leader’s last night on the eve of his assassination. As King (Kevin Majors) awaits a pack of Pall Mall cigarettes to be delivered by fellow activist Ralph Abernathy, he meets Camae (Jessica Mitchell), a maid who brings him coffee and news about his fate. While a storm rages outside his motel room, King checks for wire-tapping and recording devices, making sure each boom of thunder hasn’t left a gunshot wound in his chest. He attempts to cope with his paranoia, but his 60-year-old heart in his 39-year-old body can hardly take the stress. Luckily, Camae is there to remind him, and the audience, of the great man’s humanity and humility with a large dose of saucy, at times seductive, humor. She flirts and cusses and brings out his tendencies uncharacteristic of a preacher.

Kevin Majors takes on the role of King with respect and reverie. He easily transitions from King the preacher/performer with affected speech, to King the man who is smooth talking around women like Camae. Jessica Mitchell brings life to Camae as a steady force. Despite some trouble with the script’s poor grammar vernacular in the beginning, she grew more confident alongside her character. Her excellent comedic timing and priceless expressions kept Majors and the audience on their toes. Majors and Mitchell’s on stage chemistry is undeniable as they feed off of one another’s energy. Even as realism begins its progression to the mystical, the consistency of their acting makes the shift almost imperceptible, keeping the audience engaged throughout the 90-minute piece.

The production features a set true to the actual room 306 where King often stayed at the Lorraine Motel while archived recorded speeches set the tone. The sound design is well devised and executed and accompanied by appropriate lighting. The closing sequence of historical video and photos underscored by a beat poetry like chant of activist events and people serves as a powerful call to action as “the baton passes on.”

The script unearths the eerie foreshadowing that insinuates King knew and was prepared for his assassination, while tackling a nearly crippling fear of its inevitability. Before leaving for Memphis, he gave his wife artificial flowers to last longer while he was away and his speech, which opens the play, detailed how he was not afraid of any man and may not reach the promised land with his followers. Conspiracy aside, Hall’s play reintroduces King as a man, a mortal, with weaknesses and failures.

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, The Mountaintop reminds us of the man behind the movement. Although he was only human, he spoke for those without a voice and peacefully affected change. The Mountaintop takes King from his pedestal and puts him among the people, so we may realize we’re not so different after all and we can make a stand and just maybe pass the baton.


The Mountaintop will run at The Little Carver Civic Center Theatre through February 9, 2014 with performances at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 4 p.m. on Sundays. This production contains strong language and the use of herbal cigarettes. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.therenaissanceguild.org.