“Venus in Fur” Talkback Tonight!

Tonight after the performance we’ll be hosting a special Venus In Fur talk back. We will have special guest panelists who will discuss  gender roles, feminism, power and control, and much more!

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Our guest panelists include: 

Susan M. Williams: GRCC Faculty – Assistant Professor of History: ABD, Department of History; Major Field: East European History; Minor Fields: History of Gender & Sexuality, Russian and East European Studies; Fulbright Scholar, Romania, 2006-2007.; M.A., European History

David Cope: Grand Rapids Poet Laureate 2011-2014. AB, U of Michigan (studied under Robert Hayden); MA + 30, Western Michigan University. Taught Shakespeare, Drama, Creative Writing at GRCC for decades. Award winning author, edit, and publisher for over 40 years.

Elena Gormley: Venus in Fur Dramaturg – BA of Fine Arts in Performing Arts.

*The talk back should begin at approx. 9:30 pm. You do not need to attend Friday’s nights performance to attend the talk back. Coming another night? Feel free to stop by Friday evening after the show to take part in the discussion! We’d love to have you join us!

 

Want  to know more about Venus in Fur? Take a listen to Shelly Irwin of WGVU as she interviews the cast and director.

There are still a few seats available for tonight’s performance, go to www.atgr.org and reserve yours now! Venus in Fur runs Dec. 13 – 14 and 19-21, 2013. All shows are at 8pm.

“Venus in Fur” Opens Tonight – Talkback on Friday

It’s opening night! There are still a few seats available, go to www.atgr.org and reserve yours now! Venus in Fur runs Dec. 12 – 14 and 19-21, 2013. All shows are at 8pm.

Join us this Friday evening, December 13, after the performance of Venus In Fur for a talk back with special guest panelists who will discuss the original work of “Venus In Furs” by Leopold Von Sacher Masoch – on which the play is based. Other topics for discussion will include: gender roles, feminism, power and control, and much more!

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Our guest panelists include: 

Susan M. Williams: GRCC Faculty – Assistant Professor of History: ABD, Department of History; Major Field: East European History; Minor Fields: History of Gender & Sexuality, Russian and East European Studies; Fulbright Scholar, Romania, 2006-2007.; M.A., European History

David Cope: Grand Rapids Poet Laureate 2011-2014. AB, U of Michigan (studied under Robert Hayden); MA + 30, Western Michigan University. Taught Shakespeare, Drama, Creative Writing at GRCC for decades. Award winning author, edit, and publisher for over 40 years.

Elena Gormley: Venus in Fur Dramaturg – BA of Fine Arts in Performing Arts.

*The talk back should begin at approx. 9:30 pm. You DO NOT need to attend that night’s performance to attend the talk back.

 

Want more? Read the GR Press/MLive Preview Article on Venus in Fur

 

And check out the On The Town/MLive Preview Article on Venus In Fur

“Venus in Fur” in On The Town

There is great article about Venus in Fur by On The Town’s Katerie Prior up on mlive.com. Here is an excerpt:

Actors’ Theatre’s Holiday Offering Takes A Look at Relationships

[…] Set in present day, Thomas Novachek is a young playwright who has adapted von Sacher-Masoch’s novel into a play. Unfortunately, it’s the end of the audition and no actress has captured Thomas’ interest until Vanda Jordan shows up. Goofy, nosy, persistent, but utterly charming, Vanda wheedles Thomas to go through some of the scenes with her. But as the audition progresses, who is really in charge of the audition begins to blur. Who exactly is Vanda? How did she get a copy of Thomas’s script? And is Thomas directing Vanda or is it the other way around?

Critically acclaimed when it opened Off-Broadway in 2010, Venus in Fur is a dark comedy that shifts between humor and seriousness. Fortunately, that isn’t too hard for Director Michelle Urbane to handle—she’s directed Mr. Marmalade and Steel Magnolias in the past. “This is really about relationships,” she said. “The power struggle that occurs between actor and director, or man and woman. How far are these characters are willing to go?”

Venus in Fur may seem like an odd choice for theater around the holiday season, but Urbane thinks that this is perfect for adults looking for a theater experience that doesn’t include sugar plum fairies. “This is something fun that doesn’t have to be family-oriented,” she said. “I want audiences to walk away and say, ‘Wow, that was fun. Do you think everything happened?’ But I can’t say more than that.” […]

Want more? Click on over to On the Town on mlive and read the rest of the article, then go to www.atgr.org and reserve your tickets. There are just 6 performances of Venus in Fur which opens tomorrow night!

Rehearsals with Elinor Frances as Vanda and Kye Los as Thomas in “Venus in Fur.” Photo credit: Dave Kagan

“Nadia” in On The Town Magazine

Actors’ Theatre season kicks off with Nadia by David Turkel.  Check out this great article by Katerie Prior in On the Town.  Here’s an excerpt:

As ArtPrize ramps up, there’s no doubt that the thousands of visitors who visit Grand Rapids will see some beautiful works. Despite the good feelings you may have while viewing some of the work, you should also remember that pleasantness is not art’s sole goal; art is also intended to provoke us, to make us uncomfortable, to spit in our eye, to make us look at the world from a viewpoint that may not be our own. This is one of the themes behind Nadia, the new play premiering this month at Actors’ Theatre. (…)

Check out the rest of the article over on www.mlive.com.

For more information about Nadia, or to purchase tickets, head on over to the Actors’ Theatre website. (And don’t forget – it is not too late to pick up a season ticket to see all the productions at Actors in 2012-2013! Note: if you are a student, or still paying off those student loans, Actors’ has a special deal for you! )

Actors’ “August: Osage County” in On the Town

Check out this article by Joanne Bailey that was published by On the Town:

Actors’ closes out its season with the powerful ‘August: Osage County’

 By Joanne N. Bailey-Boorsma | On-the-Town 

All in a row: Cassandra Caye, Shelly Urbane, Amy Osborn, and Jean Reed Bahle. Photo credit: Stephanie Larson

Some of the great plays of the last century (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Death of a Salesman) are epic productions where everyone leaves entertained but rethinking their values. Surprisingly, all of these stories are about families in crisis. It’s a favorite subject of playwrights because, while family forges our beliefs, it also tests them when things are tough. This month, Actors’ Theatre’s latest production,August: Osage County, looks It’s summer in Oklahoma and poet Beverly Weston has disappeared. When his adult daughters come home to help their seriously ill mother, Violet, find him, they instead discover themselves at the mercy of their mother’s slick tongue, stash of painkillers, and arsenal of family secrets.

When August: Osage County premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, it captivated audiences, critics, and performers. After it opened on Broadway and in London, the play also had subsequent premieres in India, Israel, and other countries. It won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Best Play in 2008 and Entertainment Weekly wrote, “Even with a run time of three and a half hours, Tracy Letts’s 2007 drama of Southern-fried familial dysfunction went by in one lightning-fast jolt of pure theatrical electricity.”

It’s the same feeling that director Fred Sebulske had after seeing it in New York. “I turned to my friend and told him that I could watch that all over again,” he said.

Sebulske feels that audiences and as well as performers are drawn to the show because its conflicts (and its comedy) are universal. “It’s a very powerful piece about family and how the things that parents have done have impacted their children,” Sebulske continued. “I’m amazed that this is a very funny play, even though we’re dealing with a serious subject. It’s got great wit and humor. It truly is an epic piece of theater.”

Actors’ Theatre presents August: Osage County May 17—26. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Thursday—Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20. Performances are at Spectrum Theater, 160 Fountain St. NE. For more information, call 234-3946 or visit www.actorstheatregrandrapids.org