Venus in Fur
Opening Night: February 7, 2012
Closing: June 17, 2012
Theater: Lyceum Theatre
Critically acclaimed as "90 minutes of good, kinky, fun!" by The New York Times, Venus in Fur makes its Broadway premiere at MTC. Tony Award nominee Nina Arianda in her phenomenal breakout performance as ‘Vanda,’ is a preternaturally talented young actress determined to land the lead in a new play based on the classic erotic novel, Venus in Fur. Her emotionally charged audition for Thomas, the play’s adapter/director, becomes an electrifying game of cat and mouse blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, seduction and power, love and sex. This dazzling new play is written by theatrical mastermind David Ives, and directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie. Venus in Fur had its world premiere at Classic Stage Company.
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November 8, 2011
Lightning flashes intermittently throughout “Venus in Fur,” the spooky sex comedy by David Ives that sizzled open on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater on Tuesday night. But you’re not really likely to notice. The flickering of those stage lights barely registers beside the incandescent Nina Arianda, the sensational young actress recreating the role that made her a name to watch when she first starred in the play Off Broadway. Portraying an actress giving the audition of a lifetime, Ms. Arianda is giving the first must-see performance of the Broadway season, a bravura turn that burns so brightly you can almost feel the heat on your face.
READ THE REVIEWNovember 8, 2011
David Ives’ "Venus in Fur" begins with an exasperated playwright-director complaining to his fiancee about his long day watching auditions. He’s had to see 35 incompetent actresses. Then the 36th comes barreling into the audition room many hours too late and proves more than he ever imagined. Of course, it helps if that actress is in real life none other than Nina Arianda. The play, which caused much excitement off-Broadway last winter, has been brought to Broadway with the fearsome Arianda intact by The Manhattan Theatre Club, whose production opened Tuesday at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
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November 8, 2011
"Venus in Fur," David Ives’ cheeky adaptation of Leopold Sacher-Masoch’s erotic 1870 novel and originally mounted at the Classic Stage Company, improves a lot in this Broadway transfer. Chalk that up to helmer Walter Bobbie’s savvy re-casting of one of the players in this two-hander: In his confident turn as a modern-day playwright-director keen on exploring the sado-masochistic sexual dynamic, Hugh Dancy gives hot co-star Nina Arianda someone substantial to play to. Play is still overwritten and pretentious, but it’s a whole lot sexier with this well-matched pair taking turns at playing master and slave.
READ THE REVIEWNovember 8, 2011
Very rarely do we see an actor come out of nowhere and with a brilliantly assured performance take the New York theater scene by storm. Nina Arianda did just that in February 2010 in Classic Stage Company’s production of David Ives’ "Venus in Fur" when she burst into John Lee Beatty’s dingy rehearsal-room set as Vanda, the seemingly frazzled performer who knows more than a little about the European dominatrix role for which she is auditioning. Before our eyes, Arianda transformed Vanda from a kooky wannabe star to a blazing icon of sensuality, switching back and forth between personae without batting an eye. After the relatively brief run, she made her Tony-nominated Broadway debut in a totally different part, the gloriously dim moll Billie Dawn in an undeservedly short-lived revival of "Born Yesterday." Now, thanks to Manhattan Theatre Club, Arianda is on the Main Stem in the dazzling role that first brought her to our attention. British star Hugh Dancy, who now plays Thomas, the director-playwright Vanda reads for, may have the bigger box-office name, but make no mistake, this is Arianda’s show.
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November 8, 2011
"Venus in Fur," David Ives’ dicey two-character 100-minute play inspired by the 1870 Russian erotic novel "Venus in Furs," starts out as a lighthearted backstage comedy. But by the end, after much role playing and power reversals, it has morphed into a battle of the sexes and a dark, sadomasochistic thriller. In lesser hands, it might not work at all. But thanks to the stunning performance of Nina Arianda, solid support from her co-star Hugh Dancy and the spot-on direction of Walter Bobbie, "Venus in Fur" makes for an often captivating experience. There’s no nudity, but this is one of the most genuinely sexual shows you’ve ever seen.
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