Florida Repertory Theatre in downtown Fort Myers is presenting a production of playwright David Ives provocative, sexy and witty comedy drama “Venus in Fur,” through May 18.
With plenty of risqué humor, this one-act play deftly explores male and female power dynamics through the lens of sex and intimacy. This play within a play with a novel tells the story of a modern-day playwright, Thomas, who’s struggling to find the right actress for his adaptation of the 19th century German erotica novel “Venus in Fur” by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. The etymology of the word “masochism” is rooted in his name.
Things take a turn when Thomas auditions a woman named Vanda (the same name as the character), and the two embark on a deeper exploration of sexual hunger, power and dominance, gender roles and feminism, and transformation and revelation.
We take a deeper dive into the play in a conversation with the stars of this production, actors David McElwee and Kathleen Simmonds.
