Venus in Fur - Broadway

Reviews

• Review by Elisabeth Vincentelli
  from New York Post
  November 9, 2011

  ‘‘David Ives’ slick comedy is also about two people ferreting out the truth about each other.... the pair act out the play within the play, and unearth secret desires as they engage in erotically charged power games. Role-playing takes on a whole new meaning.... Ives and director Walter Bobbie take off at breakneck speed, and the stars trade zingers with ease. ’’

• Review by Joe Dziemianowicz
  from New York Daily News
  November 9, 2011

  ‘‘Playing Vanda, a seemingly ditzy and desperate actress auditioning for a job, [Nina Arianda is] so funny, smart and sexy that watching her brings unexpected jolts like an electrical shock.... [Hugh] Dancy has great charisma and expertly captures Thomas' ever-shifting views of Vanda. In effect, he levels the playing field, and that’s essential. The play is a tug-of-war for power between a man and a woman. You need a fair fight. ’’

• Review by Mark Kennedy
  from Associated Press
  November 9, 2011

  ‘‘Dancy's transition from arrogant dictator to needy supplicant is first class, but Tony Award-nominated Arianda is simply fearsome. Her ability to go from dumb to powerful (also on show last season in the Broadway revival of Born Yesterday) is remarkable and her physicality here, from her Noo Yawk accent to crossing her legs like a longshoreman in a frilly dress, is thrilling. ’’

• Review by David Rooney
  from The Hollywood Reporter
  November 9, 2011

  ‘‘As a neatly balanced pas de deux, Venus in Fur makes a tasty showcase for the right actors.David Ives’ play provided a sensational platform for newcomer Arianda, who had critics grasping for superlatives to describe her preternatural command of physical comedy and her quicksilver transitions from ditz to dominatrix. Dancy arguably has never been better. ’’

• Review by Charles Isherwood
  from The New York Times
  November 9, 2011

  ‘‘Venus in Fur provides a seriously smart and very funny stage seminar on the destabilizing nature of sexual desire.... Arianda is delivering the first must-see performance of the Broadway season, a bravura turn that burns so brightly you can almost feel the heat on your face.... [Hugh Dancy] holds his own and then some in the role of Thomas.’’