Venus in Fur @ Salt Lake Acting Company (9/25-10/27 SLC)

SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY’S 2013/2014 SEASON BEGINS WITH A BANG,   A KINKY COMEDY, “VENUS IN FUR” BY DAVID IVES

Salt Lake Acting Company is thrilled to open the 2013/2014 season with the Tony Award nominated, scintillating, smart and sensual VENUS IN FUR by the always brilliant and hilarious David Ives, running September 25 – October 27, 2013. The lines between reality and fantasy are blurred when the determined, uninhibited actress Vanda wiles her way into an audition for Thomas, the young, writer-director of a new play. Power, masochism and seduction abound in this sexy, hilarious, unforgettable play that the New York Post proclaims is “Fantastically funny!”

Although incredibly funny, Venus In Fur is more than just a laugh, it is mysterious and intriguing. The audience along with the two characters on stage, are pulled back and forth from the 21^st century reality of a stark rehearsal room to the lush and tense world of the 19^th century play within the play. The psychosexual games between Thomas and Vanda unfold as the play ebbs and flows. This play is 90 minutes of humor, excitement and eroticism that should not be missed. Salt Lake Acting Company loves to give local theatre audiences an experience they can’t find anywhere else in Utah and with Venus In Fur this will be delivered in a deliciously sexy way.

Playwright David Ives, a SLAC favorite, has infused his signature wit, intelligence and fantastical creativity to the enticingly erotic Venus In Fur. This will be the fourth play of Ives’ that SLAC has produced, having previously presented Polish Joke, Mere Mortals and the extremely popular, All In The Timing. Venus In Fur had a hugely successful run on and off Broadway, leading to two Tony Award nominations. SLAC has been longing to produce Venus In Fur for Utah audiences and couldn’t be happier to be doing so this September. The excitement over this show is already permeating throughout Salt Lake City theatre lovers and tickets will be selling out fast!

THE PLAYWRIGHT

DAVID IVES is probably best known for his evenings of one-act comedies called All In The Timing and Time Flies. All In The Timing won the Outer Critics Circle Playwriting Award, ran for two years Off-Broadway, and in the 1995-96 season was the most performed play in the country after Shakespeare productions. His full-length plays include the Tony-nominated Venus In Fur; New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza, which won the prestigious Hull-Warriner Award; Is He Dead? (adapted from Mark Twain);Irving Berlin's White Christmas; Polish Joke; and Ancient History. He has translated Feydeau's classic farce A Flea In Her Ear as well as Yazmina Reza's drama A Spanish Play, and his translation/adaptation of Pierre Corneille's The Liar premieres this spring at Washington's Shakespeare Theatre Company. He is also the author of three young-adult novels, Monsieur Eek,Scrib, and Voss. A graduate of Yale School of Drama and a former Guggenheim Fellow in playwriting, he lives in New York City.

DIRECTOR

TRACY CALLAHAN Sixteen years ago Tracy directed her first show at SLAC, David Ives’  Mere Mortals…coincidence? Former SLAC directing credits include Manning Up, Course 86 B In The Catalogue, Six Years, and How I Learned to Drive. She is a freelance director in the Salt Lake Area where she has had the opportunity to direct for Plan-B Theatre and Dark Horse Theatre Company.  Tracy is the Head of the Acting and Directing Program at Weber State University where she has directed over 30 productions. Two of her productions have been chosen to be presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC and several others have been selected to travel to various theatre festivals regionally.

CAST

PATRICK KINTZ (Thomas) returns to the stage at SLAC, after playing John C. Calhoon last fall in Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson.  A graduate of Brigham Young University with a BA in Theatre Studies, he has also studied at Utah Valley University and most recently with Steppenwolf Classes West.  Recent credits include John Proctor in The Crucible (UVU); Benjamin in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Sundance Summer Theatre); Actor in The Woman In Black (Echo Theatre); Bishop Egerton in Joyful Noise; and David/Jacob inThe Plan (Covey Center).

MARZA WARSINSKE (Vanda) is making her debut at SLAC with Venus In Fur. She studied Musical Theatre at Weber State University. As a student, she was a two-time Irene Ryan Finalist and recipient of the NAPAT Classical Acting Award. Now she divides her time betweenLos Angeles and Portland, working in theatre and film. Past stage credits include Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (Lyric Light Opera); Annabella/Pamela/Margaret in The 39 Steps (Old Lyric Repertory Company); Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Bag & Baggage); and Lula inDutchman (Process Theater).

ARTISTIC TEAM

Director                                                            Tracy Callahan

Set Design                                                       Keven Myhre

Costume Design                                              Kevin Alberts

Lighting Design                                                James M. Craig

Sound Design                                                  Josh Martin

Dialect Coach                                                   Adrianne Moore

Production Stage Manager                              Jennie Sant

VENUS IN FUR

By David Ives

Directed by Tracy Callahan

WHEN:          

September 25 – October 27, 2013

Wednesday - Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, 1:00p.m., 6:00 p.m.

WHERE:

Salt Lake Acting Company

168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103

Box Office: 801-363-7522

Open 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Mon – Fri

www.saltlakeactingcompany.org

MORE INFO: 

Single tickets range from $15 – $42, depending on the performance.

Student, Senior and 30 & Under discounts are available.

Discounts are also available for groups of ten or more.

Subscribers always pay the lowest price.

SLAC is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 professional theatre founded in 1970 and is dedicated to producing, commissioning and developing new works and to supporting a community of professional artists.  SLAC has been nationally recognized by the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Edgerton Foundation, among others. SLAC operates under a STP Actors Equity Association contract. SLAC is a Constituent Member of Theatre Communications Group, a national organization for non-profit professional regional theatres, and the National New Play Network.