None Too Fragile actors explore battle of sexes in ‘Venus in Fur’

At surface level, the play "Venus in Fur" sounds like one kinky show.

The two-person play, which opened this weekend at None Too Fragile Theatre in its Akron premiere, tells the story of Thomas, a director desperate to find an actress to play the female lead in his adaptation of the erotic 1870 novel "Venus in Furs." An equally desperate actress shows up to audition but she's all wrong for the part.

Or is she?

What ensues in this play-within-a-play is an increasingly serious game of submission and domination that's not necessarily sexual, said director Sean Derry. In "Venus in Fur," the auditioner and director mime some actions but they never even kiss.

"It's really a struggle between two characters" that's a cat-and-mouse game as each tries to get the upper hand, Derry said. "We're not selling salacious. We're selling a relationship, or lack thereof. Confrontation, conflict and how people try to overcome it."

That's not to say "Venus in Fur" isn't an adult show with sexual content, situations and adult language. It is.

For actors Mary Werntz of the Akron area and James Rankin of Akron, it's about trusting their director and trusting each other to tell this story, which isn't intimate in the way one would assume it would be.

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"Certainly there's a lot of sexual tension and there is some physicality but not a lot of true intimacy," said Werntz, who plays actress Vanda. "And definitely a lot of power reversals. It's full of that."

At its core, "Venus in Fur" is all about a test of wills and a battle of the sexes, Werntz said.

When the very late Vanda rushes into the audition room cursing, she immediately tries to gain power by driving the conversation and guilting director Thomas (Rankin) into letting her audition.

Because the play-within-the-play is about sadomasochism, an adaptation of the real classic novel by Austrian Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, this framework allows Ives' play to ask questions about male-female power dynamics, Rankin said.

"He's got the power as a director and then she's like, 'I've got the power as a woman to throw you off' " the minute Vanda takes off her coat to to show her revealing outfit, Rankin said.

The play starts out as a comedy but takes a turn later. The comedic elements continue but things also start to get nasty.

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Rankin described the play as a "beautiful piece" that's more about obsession than sexuality. His Thomas is driven to produce his play to "prove he's not nuts or he can convince himself that he's OK."

Vanda is driven by more than one thing and isn't definable as just one person or entity, Werntz said.

"I would say it's absolutely terrifying but an absolute gift of a part," the actress said. "It's an absolute challenge of all of my training and background and everything that I have."

That includes the play's comedy, its heightened language, the power switches, switches between characters and varied dialects.

Akron native Werntz, in her fourth show with None Too Fragile, has performed Off-Broadway, toured with the USO and performed on a cruise ship. She received her MFA from Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting in Washington, D.C.

Rankin, who studied at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, has performed with Great Lakes Theater, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Play House and numerous other Northeast Ohio theaters. "Venus" is his fourth or fifth show with None Too Fragile.

Both actors say director Derry has given them the time to explore the play and find their characters' motivations.

"I think that's part of what kind of helps us to make it our own and to make it truthful," Werntz said.

"Venus in Fur" premiered Off-Broadway in 2010 and on Broadway in 2011, with both productions directed by Walter Bobbie. In its 2010 premiere, the New York Times called the play "seriously smart and funny."

In Akron, the actors have found that the line between the play-within-the-play and "reality" becomes blurred in the "Venus in Fur" story.

"It's an audition that goes to a real place occasionally," Rankin said.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Drama: "Venus in Fur"

Where: None Too Fragile Theatre, 732 W. Exchange St., Akron

When: Continuing through May 28, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. May 22, 8 p.m. May 23

Onstage: Mary Werntz, James Rankin

Offstage: David Ives, playwright; Sean Derry, director; Margene Rannigan, stage manager

Cost: $30

Information: nonetoofragile.com or 330-962-5547

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron actors explore ‘Venus in Fur’ power struggle at None Too Fragile