Venus in Fur

PHOTOS: LISA DUFAULT | VALLEY PROMOTIONS

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - VENUS IN FUR IS COMING TO TOWN

Venus in Fur, the most performed dramatic play in the history of American theater is coming to the Eastern Slope Inn Playhouse in North Conway Village on September 18, 2014 and plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday through September 27 with a showtime of 7:30 pm. Tickets are just $20 and we invite you to come early to enjoy refreshment!

Arts in Motion Theater Company, in collaboration with Off Stage Theater, is delighted to bring this much acclaimed dramatic comedy to the attention of the community and visiting guests.

“We are very excited to bring a new offering to our theater audience”, said Glenn Noble, President, Arts in Motion. "We are working toward building a more diverse and far reaching repertoire to appeal to a wider audience.”

Venus in Fur, a Tony award, and numerous other awards winning play. It first opened ‘off Broadway’ in New York City in 2010. Instead of the usual six-week run, it continued the full season and then went on to run ‘off’ and ‘on’ Broadway for two more seasons, an outstanding achievement for a non-musical production. In 2013 the performing rights were released for productions in major cities. Venus in Fur took on like a fire with over 130 productions in US and the world. When Venus in Fur opens at Arts in Motion Theater this September 18th it will be the very first production of the play in the region.

Two young and talented Boston based professional actors, Graham King and Kimberly May Waller will be performing in this two-person play. They are both very pleased and energized with the opportunity to work on these career-building roles.

The play by David Ives is set in modern New York City. It opens with the writer-director Thomas Novachek wrapping up his highly unsuccessful auditions and lamenting on the phone the hideous inadequacies of the actresses contesting for the lead role. But wait, wait, here comes another one. She is hours late, she is hopelessly vulgar, and she is NOTHING of what he has in mind. Nevertheless, Vanda Jordan, the lead-role-wannabe actress persuades Novachek to give her a try. And thus unfolds the mystery, the comedy, the sizzle. The traditional power dynamic of an audition shifts with a dizzying succession into a fiery discussion about gender and sex, sexuality, and power, and control. The New York Times lauded ‘this electrifying and seductive comedy’ as “seriously smart and very funny.”

This play-within-the-play is actually inspired by the Venus in Furs – a century old novel by Leopold Sacher-Masoch. The very work and the author’s name that gave birth to the concept and the term masochism. So yes, Vanda does show up wearing dominatrix attributes, but as it turns out, only to fight and defeat the entire concept on behalf of an actress, a woman and the entire gender. She charges at Novachek “Isn’t it all porn?… or porn-ish? “ But her own corset or dominatrix boots are perhaps the only ‘pornish’ things in the play.

“There are no sex scenes, nothing as suggestive as torquing, not even a kiss”, says director Tatiana Zaharova. “Nevertheless, it is an adult conversation about sex, sexuality, power, domination, control and it is conveyed with adult language and adult references”.

While Venus in Fur is deemed inappropriate for children and young teenagers, the adult who can bear the strong language will find the play engaging, thought provoking and, of course, FUN. “

KIMBERLY MAE WALLER

Kimberly Mae Waller (Vanda) is a Boston-based actor. Her interest and involvement in theatre began with a production of Damn Yankees during her freshman year of high school in which she appeared as an ensemble baseball player. Theatre then became Kimberly's focus throughout her undergraduate career at Bridgewater State University. Since completing her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications in 2011 she has been working and performing across New England in stage work, web series, independent films, and commercials. Kimberly performs with Big Smile Entertainment, Deana's Educational Theatre, and The Murder Mystery Company touring New England and traveling across the country to bring the arts to audiences of all ages. Past roles include Maenad (The Bacchae, Oberon/Komoi Collective), Polly Peachum (The Penny Jive, Oberon/Myss Ripley's Pleasure Swing), Susan Drewes (Newcastle, Daydream Theatre Company), Telephone Girl (Machinal, Bridgewater State University), and Grace Harvey in Lungs (web series, Angelwood Pictures). When not performing, Kimberly works as a stage manager (Elliot Norton Awards, 2013-14, The Company Theatre), stage technician (BSU), theatre instructor (Filedheacht Music School), and director (BSU, Filedheacht Music School). Kimberly would like to send a special thanks to her family for their never-ending support and to my partner Graham, to Off Stage Theater and Arts in Motion Theater, and to our audience for making this production a reality.

GRAHAM KING

Graham King is excited to be matching wits with
Kimberly Mae Waller in Venus in Fur in his debut role with the Arts in Motion Theater Company. He is a professional actor and model based in Cambridge, MA and has performed in over 13 short and feature films, as well as several award winning web series projects (Lungs, Angelwood Pictures), TV shows (The Folklorist, New TV), and commercial work (Mohegan Sun Casino, Toyota, Student Universe). Additionally, he has done modeling for print, digital as well as events and has had the opportunity to lend his appearance on novels in the science fiction and fantasy genre (Baen Books). Currently he is studying Meisner Technique at the New England Actor's Workshop in Boston and is a featured actor at the Gallows Hill Theatre Company in Salem, MA for their 2014 fall season. In his spare time he enjoys playing ice hockey, hiking, and playing guitar.