Review-Venus in Fur-Sweet & Sour Productions
13-12-13
"You don't have to tell me about sadomasochism, I'm in the theatre..."
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Venus in Fur got its Hong Kong premiere last night with this Sweet and Sour production. Ives' play is very good and has some very funny moments. It has dynamic characters, fast paced dialogue and an interesting premise. While it's not a play you should drag your Nana to, it's a very good play and an excellent example of Ives' work.
The play explores many themes through the story of a director at an audition. He's auditioning actresses for his new play and having trouble finding a girl who can play the role - a very familiar experience for thespians. Ives takes this ordinary event and turns it into a world of dark fantasy. Feminism is explored. Power and pleasure are discussed at length and we take a deeper look into the world of S&M through a classic piece of erotica. As the characters lose themselves to the fantasy we get lost in who has the upper hand in the situation.
Blocking and staging of the production is really solid. Director Candice Moore uses the space well and uses different levels of height to show power and to create interesting stage pictures. My favorite moment in both lighting and staging was the ending of the play. I thought it was a beautiful moment.
The reason this show was so amazing was the performance of the actors, Muriel Hoffman and Henry Coombs. They were fully committed to the play. Stand out in the cast is Muriel Hoffman. She killed it - and by that I mean she was amazing. She had great vocals and wonderful physical movement; her accents were solid; she was incredibly sexy on stage; and she handled all the rapid fire dialogue like a pro. I expect to see her on the Hecklers ballot for next year as this was a phenomenal performance.
As with other Sweet and Sour productions, this show is very professional looking. Everything is smooth and classy from a design perspective. The costumes by Andrew Cheung are beautiful and help establish all the different characters. Vanda's boots for the ending are super fierce. Even the program design for the show is sleek and sexy. It's a well packaged production.
It's my understanding that there are very few seats left for the evening performances of Venus in Fur. There is a matinee performance on Saturday that still has tickets available. If you can make it to the afternoon show, I highly recommend it. It's a great story with stellar performances.
Venus in Fur is playing at the Fringe Club through December 14th. For more information, click here.
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