Why can’t stage writer Thomas Novachek find a suitable actress-vixen to dominate his adaption of “Venus in Fur,” based on the 1870 novel by the man whose name is synonymous with masochism? Why must all the women who audition for the role bring inappropriate accents and laughable costumes? Can no one pronounce “degradation” without the help of a tutor?
So rails Thomas (Adam Fristoe) at the opening of David Ives’ cunningly crafted conceit on Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s classic novel about a man whose early encounters with a fur-wrapped, reed-wielding aunt give him a taste for the overlap of pleasure and pain. No sooner does Thomas articulate his frustrations via cellphone to an offstage listener whom we presume to be his girlfriend than latecomer Vanda Jordan (Veronika Duerr) comes rip-roaring into his reading room. Vanda, as portrayed in Actor’s Express’ delicious new production, is either an answer to a prayer — or a nightmare in black nylon.
After some cajoling and steamrolling, lingerie-flinging Vanda forces Thomas into submission — if you will. And as it turns out, not only can she pronounce “degradation” with some credibility, but she also slinks into the part of her purring doppelganger (also named Wanda) with such authority that it leaves Thomas gasping and speechless.
As directed by David Crowe, Ives’ study of transformation, manipulation and desire works itself into a lurid frenzy. But as lighting flashes mysteriously outside the studio window and Vanda and Thomas engage in their dangerously erotic brain tease, you can feel the author straining to wiggle his way out of his literary dead-end. (There are intriguing questions about Vanda’s motives and intent — how she got so much information about Thomas, his work, his girlfriend — but the most interesting one peters out unexploited.) And though this show succeeds as a darkly titillating entertainment that reverses expectations of sexual terror, it feels inherently (though not fatally) miscast.
After a slightly self-conscious warm-up, Fristoe rises to the challenge of playing Thomas, a man who masks his personal obsession with his play with cool detachment. It is fascinating to watch Vanda shatter Thomas and remold him into something that frees him, even as it enslaves him.
But it is hard to discern the slightest flicker of authentic attraction under the surface of this steamy pas de deux. Duerr’s over-the-top performance left me — to borrow one of Wanda’s most frequently misused words — ambivalent. Surely one of the biggest comedic talents working in Atlanta today, Duerr’s intensity level is frequently 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. The woman is hilarious, but subtle she is not.
Here, that makes her “Pygmalion”-style transformation from coarse interloper to silken seductress all the more remarkable. Yet it also set me to debating if comic buffoonery can undermine sexuality; Duerr is possessed of a raucous brand of comedy that is more Lucille Ball than Marilyn Monroe. In Vanda’s revealing undergarments, she is an irresistible object to behold, but does her squawking negate her sexiness? To me, yes. And yet even when this performer’s material is dubious (as it was in last year’s “The Summer of Daisy Fay,” in which she starred as the Fannie Flagg heroine), this actress is a real crackerjack — with a stunning arsenal of tics and details.
Ives’ meditation on the creative process and the secrets of the heart makes dazzling reference to everything from the paintings of Titian to the dramas of Euripides, and there is much to admire in this outing (with wonderful costumes by Elizabeth Rasmusson and a perfect set by Phillip Male). But in the end, it feels too much like one long joke, and one that relentlessly and insistently relies on the outsize legwork of a single performer.
Theater review
“Venus in Fur”
Grade: B-
8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays. 2 p.m. Sundays. Through Oct. 6. $26-$45. Actor’s Express, 887 West Marietta St., Suite J-107, Atlanta. 404-607-7469. actors-express.com
Bottom line: Fascinatingly kinky, if a bit flawed.
