Venus in Fur

Inspired by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s notorious erotic novel (which first shocked readers in 1870), Venus in Fur is a crackling exploration of desire and control. David Ives’s saucy and sensational play pits actress against playwright in a virtuosic display of seduction, cruelty, and gamesmanship. David Muse directs.

When an actress arrives unscheduled for an audition, the playwright-director grudgingly allows her to try out for his new play, an adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s novel. What begins as a normal audition quickly turns into an increasingly seductive battle for power. As the action shifts between the audition and the play-within-a-play, the two engage in a game of cat and mouse where the roles of cat and mouse are completely up for grabs.