Costume design is something that most people do not think about when seeing a play. In fact, the costumes are usually something you should not notice - at least for plays set in the current era. If the design is successful, it will look like the characters are wearing their own clothes, not like each piece has been carefully thought out, chosen, and fit to the actor. Every once in a while, however, there comes a show where the costumes should stick out. Venus in Fur is one of those plays. How often do you get to have modern clothing, period clothing, S&M gear, and a fur cape all in the same show?

As always when I design a play, I started my work on Venus with the script - reading, rereading, and going over all the costume pieces mentioned. After figuring that out, I started my research. For this, I researched each piece of it - the modern, the period, and the exotic - to find a look for each character that could flow seamlessly between time periods and genres. I made tearsheets of my research, and met with Cristina (and the rest of the design team) to share thoughts and ideas. Once we decided the direction we wanted to go, I started actually looking for the costume pieces.

Shopping for Venus was like no other show that I have worked on. The diversity of the things I was looking for was staggering - leather corsets, dog collars, an 1870s dress, a frock coat, servant's livery, as well as modern clothes. Looking for corsets and dog collars, I discovered a different side of Amazon and Etsy - one I never knew existed. Finding the right collar proved to be especially tricky. We wanted a collar that would be sexy enough for the S&M, but still simple enough not to be jarring in the 1870 sections. After days of searching online and in local clothing and exotic stores, I finally went to PetSmart, where I found several actual dog collars that met our needs. As I was checking out, the cashier asked me how many dogs I had. I told her none - I was a costume designer and the collar would be worn by humans. It's not every day you get to say that.

Once the pieces were collected, it was time to have fittings with the actors to put together each look and see how they would flow into the next. Options are always good things to have at fittings - no matter how carefully you choose a costume piece, sometimes things just don't look right when they are on the actor all together. It's always good to have multiple ideas for everything just in case. Through our fittings, we found looks we were very happy with for each character - and their transformations.

Every play presents its own set of unique costume challenges beyond finding the right pieces of clothing. Unlike most plays, although there are many costume changes throughout Venus, the actors do not leave the stage. This presented its own set of challenges - how do the costumes arrive onstage? Do the actors take anything off in order to put on the new pieces or do they layer? What sort of closures are needed on the costumes so the actors can change themselves onstage without help? These are things that we continued to work on and tweak up though our tech rehearsals until we ironed out the kinks in the details of the costume pieces and the changes felt comfortable for the actors.

When you watch Venus in Fur, the characters should look comfortable in their clothing - like it belongs to them. But also watch for the moments when the costumes make themselves known, the theatrical moments where they do stand out - not that you have to look very carefully - they are hard to miss.

I've been a member of the Vermont Stage Company board for several years now, but in one of those random coincidences, I also happen to have a PhD in Austrian literature, hardly ever used for its original purpose (I teach in Champlain College's interdisciplinary "Core" program, which doesn't offer German). For this production, Cristina asked me to dust off my degree and delve into the life and times of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, who was born and lived for most of his life in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (until he fled to Germany to escape a four-day jail sentence for a minor slander charge - he was fond of punishment, but only on his own terms).

Because I had limited time, and I knew that Cristina and the actors would be reading the play backwards and forwards, I decided to focus my dramaturgical efforts on providing history and background for them. Basically, I wanted to give them all kinds of extra "ingredients" that they could mix into their performances however they wanted.

I got really into it. Sacher-Masoch and his wife Wanda (yes, pronounced "Vanda") were some interesting folks, let's just say that. I delved into some of the theories about masochism, which is still very poorly understood. I also did a little art historical research (Sacher-Masoch was obsessed with paintings of women in fur), and I followed up the references to Goethe, which permeate both Sacher-Masoch's novel and Ives' play.

When I was done I delivered 50 pages of rough dramaturgical notes and my copy of Faust to Cristina, telling her that it needed to be on Thomas's bookshelf in the show (you can see it there, on the bottom) - not only because both Severin and Thomas make Faustian bargains, but also because Thomas is a snob and he's going to make sure that all those "stupid actresses" know that he can read Faust and Venus in Furs in the original, thank you very much.

Then came the fun part: I went to the show last Friday and got to see what Cristina, Jordan, and Deanna had done with all my notes.

What I got was a surprise! When I read Ives' play as a dramaturge, I was doing it with my "Germanist" lenses on - and, well, I think it's fair to say that there's not normally much occasion to look for humor in German literature. When I came to the performance as an audience member, though, I found myself at a play that was not only smart and full of all sorts of clever allusions, but also really, really, really funny. My husband and I had big grins on our faces the whole time! It was a great evening and a wonderful reward for all my hard work.

I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did!

Betsy

P.S. When you come to the show, you can read some of what I learned in the dramaturgical insert that's included in everyone's program. I hope you find it interesting! And, for those who perhaps have a masochistic streak, Cristina's posted my full 50 pages of notes here for you to take a look through.

How have you been preparing to take on this role?

After having been cast in August, I have done a few things to get ready including: reading the play about a thousand times, studying Galician, Russian and German dialects (as Sacher-Masoch may have had dialectic influences of each), reading about life in Sacher-Masoch's era as well as about masochism and related psychological phenomena (please note the attempt at alliteration - come see the play: you'll get the joke) and poking around (so to speak) in literary and dramatic adaptation. I can be a little pedantic sometimes. Here's an example of that:

In Venus in Fur, THOMAS adapts Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novel into a play of the same name (crazy, right?). As the fates would have it, I just finished playing the character of FRANK in David Ives' The School for Lies. So I looked into it and, whoa, Mr. Ives adapted Moliere's The Misanthrope from the French himself!

Is there anything you find scary about playing Thomas? Anything exciting?

What I find scary about playing THOMAS is that he is so much more out of touch with himself than he thinks he is. This can be a tough thing to portray, especially when the character is not a dummy. It's a very challenging thing to do convincingly, so it's intimidating. Yeah, it's exciting to play a person who may have hidden desires that he may not be totally aware of, or at least would never ever admit to. It's so fascinating to try to quietly, or not so quietly, unveil these deep waters.

What's your favorite line in the play?

Um, like fifty of them. Tough question.

What kinds of conversations will people have about the play as they walk out of the theatre?

I think people will have a great deal of conversations regarding the balance of power in this play. The shifts of control and dominance in this piece really take center stage. I think people will talk about the unexpected reversals that take place. I hope they talk about the funny stuff, too. Wrapped in all the sexy business and heady business, Ives is so f***ing funny.

What's it like coming back to Vermont to work again?  

I am SO excited to be back at Vermont Stage! As soon as we closed The Clean House two seasons ago, I was already hoping for a return invitation because I had such a wonderful experience. When I got the call about VENUS I literally squealed! Not only is this a dream role for any young-ish actress, but to be back in Burlington on stage at FlynnSpace and under the direction of Cristina, is such a treat. This has been a highlight of my year already and one that I have been counting down and looking forward to since I got the offer! 

How's this process been different then THE CLEAN HOUSE?

The process is a bit different because of the size of our cast. We staged the entire play (VENUS) in less than a week and started detailing on our final day of week 1. It's pretty outstanding and because this is a two person play, the focus in rehearsal is on the two of us the entire time. This allows us, the actors and Cristina to cover so much more because the focus is so concentrated. This also makes for a very intense rehearsal- physically and mentally, but the two-on-one time we have with each other is priceless and unique to a two person play. 

How's this role different?

Vanda and Matilde are quite different women and I am very fond of them both - for different reasons. I love Matilde's incredibly dry sense of humor but the beautiful way she sees the world. Vanda is a force. She is wild. She is intelligent. She has no limits and pushes others to their limits. 

My preparation for both roles has been pretty different as well. With Matilde my main focus before our first read was nailing the Portuguese accent as well as the dialogue spoken in actual Portuguese. I wanted her voice and speech to be as authentic as possible. With Vanda definitely some of my prep work included working on the German accent but there was much more research to do on the origin and history of this story, and figuring out the parallels in this play within a play. Both roles have proved to be very challenging and have pushed me. I love that!    

Speaking of, how have you been preparing to take on playing Vanda?

This is the type of role that takes preparation in multiple areas.  Besides reading the play almost every night for the past month and a half, my early preparation started with learning a German dialect for the role of Vanda von Dunayev/Venus as well as reading the actual book of inspiration, "Venus in Furs".  Also elements of research in the world of BDSM - present day and past, finding out who this man Sacher-Masoch was, since he is such a strong presence in this play, and of course the goddess of love herself, Venus (Aphrodite). I've also never been so dedicated to my nutrition and exercise...I had to do justice to the vision of our director, Cristina Alicea and the beautiful work of our costume designer, Catherine Vigne!

Is there anything you find scary about playing her? Anything exciting?

Can I just say EVERYTHING, to both, and leave it at that?  I saw this play on Broadway two years ago and I was completely taken by the performances.  I was discussing it with a dear friend afterwards and he asked, "Couldn't you see yourself playing that role? Don't you want to play that role one day?"  to which I replied, "That role terrifies me!"  And here I am...

What kinds of conversations do you think people will have about the play as they walk out of the theatre?

I hope the audience has as much fun with us as we will have performing for them. This will truly be an evening of pure risqué, sexy, intellectual, entertainment all rolled into 1 act!  We are only a week into rehearsals and every night we've met has been so much fun! It's hard work, the material is challenging, this show is a beast (as I've been describing it to friends and family far away) but it is a thrill to work on.  There are so many layers to these characters, to who these people really are and what they long for. What is this relationship? What is reality? What is fantasy? Who is in control? Who has the power? Who had the power all along? Who is Thomas? Who is Vanda... really? I think it's safe to say this show itself, is a conversation starter.

What's your favorite line in the play?

 "Don't f*** with a goddess is what it's about."