Set in New York, this comedy-drama by David Ives sees a writer-director named Thomas Novachek (played in this Golden Apple Theatre production by Daniel Arnold) doing an adaptation of a 1870 novella by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch called Venus In Furs. The novel, as is evident from the author’s last name, has strong masochistic overtones. Novachek struggles to find an actress to fit the title role though until he meets an woman named Wanda don Dunayev (played by Amy Matysio). As the play unfolds a relationship develops between the two characters that recalls elements of von Sacher-Masoch’s novella.
Ives’s play debuted off-Broadway in 2010. Several film versions of the novella have been made over the years, and in 1967 the Velvet Undergound, with the help of Nico, released an album inspired by the novella’s themes that included a song called “Venus In Furs”.
This Golden Apple Theatre production runs at the Artesian on 13th from March 5-22. Tickets are Adults $35, Students $25, and you can find more information here.
To give you a taste, here’s a three-minute compilation of scenes from a 2011 Broadway production: