Sam Fisher as Thomas & Hannah Goodman as Vanda.
WIT-Women in Theatre opens its 2015-16 season on October 16 with the wildly intelligent, funny, sizzling drama VENUS IN FUR by David Ives — a speculation on the innate power of women and how that power is reflected in the 21st century against a 19th century backdrop. VENUS IN FUR explores women’s servitude by wrapping the story in a sadomasochistic, black fur stole. It is a sensually packed love story between a man, who doesn’t know what he wants and a woman who knows exactly what she wants.
A chatty, unsophisticated actress, Vanda Jordan (Hannah Goodman), shows up late for an audition with a desperate, first time director, Thomas Novachek (Sam Fisher), for a play he’s written that takes place in 1870 — a dance of power begins between the two of them when she reveals that she mistook his play for a bit of pornography with lots of whips and chains.
How do men perceive women at first glance? Are women always auditioning for some unknown role with rules that were set forth since biblical times? How do women change men’s minds? Who’s in charge, anyway? Is the Battle of the Sexes doomed to go on ad infinitum?
The year 1870 is an important playwriting choice for VENUS IN FUR because it was in this year that African American male slaves were given the right to vote through the 15th Amendment. It wasn’t until 1920 with the 19th Amendment that women of all colors were given the right to vote. Clearly, the right to vote hasn’t given universal equality to either race or gender. The gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged is still wide, but in this playwright’s hands, Vanda Jordan reduces that distance with small miracles. Women have changed less than the methods they use to overcome slavish power.
To make VENUS IN FUR even more fun than it already is, immediately after each performance the cast members will be available for photos on the set. Audience members can pick their favorite scene/s, insert themselves into that stage picture, and share those pictures on social network instantaneously.
VENUS IN FUR opens on October 16 with three more performances on October 17, 23, and 24 at The Avenue Stage under the roof of St. John United Church of Christ at 520 Fairfield Ave, Bellevue, KY, just 10 short blocks east of Newport on the Levy. All performances begin at 8:00pm. General seating is limited but you can bring your own lawn chair to expand the permanent seating. Beginning September 19, tickets are $18 and can be ordered on-line at St. John’s website: https://stjohnchurch.net/theatre-on-the-avenue/#.VfbP_xGrRaQ
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 