If you want to see the most entertaining actress on the New York stage, go see Nina Arianda playing an actress who comes late to an audition, in David Ives’ Venus in Fur. Her range, depth, variety, supple physicality and total investment in each of her portrayals is astonishing. Aided by an excellent foil, Hugh Dancy, as the author/director of the play she is auditioning for, this two-hander, nimbly directed by Walter Bobbie, with sensational costumes (especially for Ms Arianda) by Anita Yavich, fine set by John Lee Beatty, with perfect lighting by Peter Kaczlorowski, evolves from a broad comic opening to a surreal piece of performance art as the two begin to act out the script of the new play, fully realizing the new characters, accents and all, growing more surreal as the conclusion is approached.
As the play progressed, I found I felt two alternating internal reactions: when they played the actress and the writer, I had full empathy with them. When they played the characters in the play-within-the-play, I was a spectator, an observer. It worked both ways. I was so engaged by the play and the performances, that I couldn’t take my eyes away from the stage for a moment to take notes.
