Full name: Venus in Fur: A Play

Author: David Ives Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Play, Fiction Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9780810128224 0810128225

A young playwright, Thomas, has written an adaptation of the 1870 novel Venus in Fur by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (after whom the term "masochism" was coined); the novel is the story of an obsessive adulterous relationship between a man and the mistress to whom he becomes enslaved. At the end of a long day in which the actresses Thomas auditions fail to impress him, in walks Vanda, very late and seemingly clueless, but she convinces him to give her a chance. As they perform scenes from Thomas's play, and Vanda the actor and Vanda the character gradually take control of the audition, the lines between writer, actor, director, and character begin to blur. Vanda is acting . . . or perhaps she sees in Thomas a masochist, one who desires fantasy in "real life" while writing fantasies for a living.   An exploration of gender roles and sexuality, in which desire twists and turns in on itself, Venus in Fur is also a witty, unsettling look at the art of acting--onstage and off.   Similar books: Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin Seven Guitars by August Wilson The Flick by Annie Baker Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson All in the Timing by David Ives Harvey by Mary Chase Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley The Clean House and Other Plays by Sarah Ruhl A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller Incident at Vichy by Arthur Miller Noises Off by Michael Frayn The Dresser by Ronald Harwood Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas The Nerd by Larry Shue The Man Who Came to Dinner by Moss Hart Doubt by John Patrick Shanley Seven Plays by Sam Shepard The Complete Plays by Joe Orton A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare