Bristol Riverside Theatre (BRT) will present David Ives’ provocatively comedic play Venus in Fur Oct. 22 through Nov. 10. The production takes place at BRT’s pop-up theatre at the Regency Room (190 Mifflin Street, Bristol, PA). BRT is producing at The Regency Room while the main theatre is being renovated. The fully transformed black-box venue offers a uniquely intimate experience, immersing audiences in the seductive tension and smart humor of this two-person play and providing the perfect setting for the show’s charged story.

BRT’s Producing Director, Ken Kaissar, directs this exploration of power dynamics, desire, and the shifting roles of dominance that become a battle of wits and wills.

Venus in Fur opens with frustrated playwright and director Thomas Novachek (Atticus Shaindlin) holding  auditions for his adaptation of a 19th-century novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. The novel famously  spawned the term masochism (from the author’s name) after its exploration of dominance and  submission. In the play, as Novachek is about to give up after a day of unsuccessful auditions, Vanda Jordan (Lea DiMarchi) bursts into the room, a seemingly unlikely candidate for the role of the sophisticated female lead. Jordan is brash, bold, and unrefined—or so it appears. 

The 90-minute production is presented without intermission and opens on Thursday, Oct. 24. Tickets are available at Venus in Fur » Bristol Riverside Theatre (brtstage.org)