Venus in Fur: Sexy, smart and sizzling
PUBLISHED February 26th, 2013 12:56 am | UPDATED January 21st, 2016 07:48 am
The Singapore Repertory Theatre’s opening production of its 20th Anniversary season is a new production of the sexy and smart Broadway hit,  ‘Venus In Fur’ by David Ives. From the moment the lights go down, Venus in Fur will have you in its thrall, starting off on a humourous note but becoming darker, more dangerous and deliciously erotic as the play progresses. Forget ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and think black leather, fishnet stockings and razor-sharp dialogue; the electrifying cat-and-mouse game which is at the heart of this production promises to be more steamy than E.L. James’ novel, albeit with some moments of humour thrown in for good measure!
So why did the SRT choose Venus in Fur as its opening production of 2013? “Plays like Venus in Fur are hard to come by. Thought provoking, powerful, edgy. As soon as I saw it in New York, we optioned the Singapore rights immediately”, said SRT’s Artistic Director Gaurav Kripalani. The Singapore Repertory theatre is no stranger to black humour and edgy plays going by its past record of productions like ‘The Pillowman’, ‘Blackbird’ and ‘The God of Carnage’.
We got to interview Ed Sylvanus Iskandar, the show’s New York based Indonesian director, about the upcoming production…
When asked what attracted him to this play, he replied, ‘What really excited me about the play is that it addresses the imbalance of power between male / female relationships that has existed since the beginning of time. This story is expressed through the witty dialogue of David Ives and in such a thoroughly entertaining fashion, which gives the play a lot of appeal. I knew it wasn’t the kind of play that a Singapore audience could see every day, and I knew that the two dynamite roles would be bait for two great performers. When Artistic Director Gaurav Kripalani offered me the play, I said yes without hesitation.’
David Ives, the playwright, was inspired by ‘Venus im Pelz,’ an 1870 novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, an Austrian utopian socialist novelist and from whose name is derived the term ‘masochism’- sexual pleasure in being hurt or abused – which gives a clue as to the nature of the play.
Venus In Fur begins with a dynamic we know all-too-well: the all-controlling director (Thomas), and the wannabe actress (Vanda) who is looking for a break. As Vanda begins to assume the mantle of Thomas’s character, however, the tables start to turn in more and more surprising ways. Suddenly, they are role-playing a dominant woman and a submissive man in a play-within-a-play, and their chemistry is radically transformed. By the end of the play, the line between fact and fiction has completely disappeared.   The sharp dialogue moves between ppsychosexual games in two realities – between Thomas and Vanda, and between the Victorian male and female characters of the play-within-the-play.
What was Iskandar’s biggest challenge in directing a two-person psychosexual drama? ‘The sex. The drama comes pretty easy, and you’re only dealing with two people in a dynamic psychological close-up throughout. But the sex is hard to do: get it wrong, and it ends up looking like bad pornography – awkward, embarrassing and unintentionally funny. To create erotic sizzle, the right power dynamics have to be in play: who wants what, what’s stopping them, and what they are willing to do to get it. Power play is the fuel for all sex.’
I mentioned ’50 Shades of Grey’, the current favourite erotica flavor of the month. What are Iskandar’s thoughts on 50 Shades of Grey?  ‘We are naturally fascinated by sexual relationships. But there’s nothing in 50 Shades of Grey (or its sequels) that really startles me: if you want a real treatment of sadomasochistic psychology, I’d recommend Anne Rice’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (also a trilogy). It’s an erotic version of the Sleeping Beauty fable and takes everything to a radical extreme. Vampire stories are also a classic analogy for sadomasochistic relationships. The Twilight stories are so fascinating because they tap into something primal: a woman who’s arrogant enough to believe that she’s special enough to tame a beast and change his natural instincts. ‘
So what should the audience in Singapore expect from the show?
‘A provocative, sexy, very funny experience starring two of the brightest stars of the New York stage.’ said Mr. Iskandar. (At the time of writing, the SRT was not able to reveal the names of the actors who will be playing the roles of Thomas and Vanda.)
Ed Iskandar hopes that audiences here will go home and re-enact some scenes! ‘Seriously – I think they’ll be provoked and thoroughly entertained. Venus in Fur is titillating, outrageous, and very, very funny – it’s a theatrical piece that has to be experienced live, and audiences will get a real charge out of watching two bravura performances right in front of them. Perhaps it will release some tension.’
And what message does Ed Iskander hope that the audience will take home after the play? ‘Male – female relationships are complex, especially within Singaporean society, which is fundamentally patriarchal. In Venus in Fur, the woman comes out on top. It’s a warning about the effects of repression. We’re in a new era now: women are breadwinners, single mothers and CEOs. I find a lot of the traditional attitudes toward the roles of wives and mothers and daughters in our society limiting and outdated. Its time for a change.’ Bring on the changes…!
Venus In Fur will run at the DBS Arts Centre – Home of the SRT from 15 to 30 March 2013. Please visit www.sistic.com.sg for more details on ticketing.
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