Although my mom read me a couple of reviews and a synopsis for the ninety minute play, I obviously didn’t pay attention and went in with no idea with what I was about to see. I would describe the play as a mix of comedy, and drama. It leaves you chuckling at parts as well as thinking about some of the points it brings up. Hugh Dancy and Nina Arianda act so passionately and seem to get lost in the multiple characters they portray.
Thomas, played by Dancy, is a playwright who bases his script on the book Venus in Furs 
by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. It is a 19th century novel controversial for its time, being, as Vanda (Arianda) describes it, “S&M porno.” After a long day of auditions full of actresses dressed as either “whores or dikes,” Thomas is ready to leave his office and return home to his fiancée Stacey. In walks Vanda, an actress with a profane tongue who can’t stop cursing her bad luck at getting stuck in the rain and missing her 2:15 audition. After a lot of banter, she finally convinces Thomas to let her read for him. Oh, and she definitely reads for him. They both get very into their parts, as Vanda auditions for the role of Vanda (coincidence, or not?) and Thomas reads the part of the character of Kusiemski.
Dressing up in costumes, and falling into and out of their roles, the two get to know each other. Rather, Vanda seems to get to know a lot about Thomas while he seems to go throughout the entire play with no knowledge about who she really is. Though Vanda 
claims to have just skimmed the script on the train, she seems to know her part very well. She goes through the entire play criticizing and analyzing its scenes as well as sacher-Masoch’s book.
In the end, she gets very riled up. Thomas realizes she knows way too much about his life. She is able to guess everything about his fiancée Stacey and seems to be able to get her hands on the full script (instead of the version for readings). Who is this mysterious young girl who came prepared with the correct props and well-read mind? She seems to be very similar to the character of Venus in the beginning of Sacher-Masoch’s novel.
Venus in Fur is a mind bending, fast paced piece of theatre!
Venus in Fur
Lyceum Theatre
February 18, 2012
Marina B. Nebro
