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.
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.
