Venus in Fur Opening at Studio on May 25

From Jana Petersen

Disclaimer: This is not your cliched love story; enter the seasonally-named title character from 500 Days of Summer. Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. Boy quickly finds himself at whim of girl. Now what? Bring it to the stage.

And voila, Venus in Fur at the Studio Theater, a David Ives adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870s novella: a story of a seemingly eager-to-please woman who is able to manipulate her casting director to take her audition though she is late, and batter that casting director into submission.

Though Ives’ production might be an exaggeration of the Deschanel / Gordon-Levitt love story, the theme at its base rings true. Venus in Fur not only inverts the stereotypical gender roles and dispositions in a relationship, man versus woman, but also, beyond gender, flips the roles of two character types, director versus actress — an outcome that Ives says, “would delight any actor.” Venus in Fur opens May 25 at the Studio Theater.

Over at Theater J, The Moscows of Nantucket is running through June 12. Moscows is a fast-paced, new American comedy with “its heart in Chekhov country” (Theater J). Find out what happens when a weekend of unusual family bonding turns into confrontation between two brothers who have avoided each other for years.

Find out what is going on at other theaters in the area below the fold:

Keegan Theatre at Church Street 1742 Church Street NW Washington, DC 202.892.0202	25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee opens June 4.
Lincoln Theatre 1215 U Street NW Washington, DC 202.328.6000	Next performance, An Evening with Spike Lee, is June 4. Tickets are $28.50.
Source 1835 14th Street NW Washington, DC 202.204.7800	The Green Bird runs through June 4, a production of the Constellation Theatre Company. Ticket prices: $23-30
Studio Theatre 1501 14th Street NW Washington, DC 202.332.3300	Venus in Fur opens May 25.
Theater J 1529 16th St. NW Washington, DC 202.518.9400	The Moscows of Nantucket runs through June 12. Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 8 pm; and Sundays at 3 and 7:30 pm.