Venus in Fur

‘Don’t mess with a Goddess’ in general I must say is a rather decent motto by which to live one’s life (although I might extend it to don’t mess with anyone, it seldom is worth your while - I always seek to avoid conflict). If you get anything out of this production you’ll probably get that…

For a two person play you really do need to get the right cast and in this case, they did. Both performers were very impressive. Natalie Dormer is an exceptional actress and her ability to change character throughout the performance was a joy to behold. She did no fewer than three accents during the show and her rapid switching of enunciation, sometimes midsentence, was very impressive. David Oakes also had his moments: draping Dormer completely with a fur like she was a table that needed covering with a cloth was a delicious piece of dry humour. Later when he took on the role of Venus himself it was a mixture of amusing and impressive in equal measure.

The play was carried by these two. It is not an exceptional story and at times felt a bit too lengthy, but the two performers kept up enough energy to get us through to its vastly dramatic, and might I say a tad unfair, conclusion. I do think the end results were a bit of an overreaction for what I perceived as being a rather insignificant slight. Still I guess one can’t always expect a measured, logical response from the characters involved. Anyway, I will say no more so as to give no more away; you can decide for yourself.