Before any consideration of the performance of the work Venus is furious entered the Bucharest repertoire for a relatively short time Theatersome information is needed related to what I would call the literary-dramatic archeology of the text.

So, first there was a novel Venus in Pelka Austrian writer Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch. Published in 1870, translated and published in Romanian in 2005 by Bucharest Publishing House threeunder the heading Venus dressed in fur. This is a novel full of sexual fantasies and fetishes, which once again shows us that the world of the 19th century was not as decent and modest as it might seem. It is true, we also knew something from the novels of Flaubert, Maupassant or Emile Zola, not to mention Dangerous connections, a book written a century earlier by Choderlos de Laclos. Writing that some critics have recognized as the best French novel of all time. In von Sacher-Masoch’s novel, the equally whimsical and scandalous love story between the aristocrat Severin von Kusiemski and the unknown Wanda von Dunaev ends with the terms of the blood contract concluded between them. A contract involves accepting a combination of feeling and physical pain. It seems that the influence of the writings of the Austrian novelist in the era was so strong that from here, or rather on behalf of its author, the psychiatrist Kraft-Ebing invented the concept of masochism.

It was followed in 2010 by a play by David Ives, which draws inspiration from the novel, adding another to the original pair. The one created by playwright Thomas Novacek, who is just preparing for his directorial debut, and actress Wanda Jordan. Or, please, Wanda Jordan. Then scandalous director Roman Polanski got in touch. He made a film in which he entrusted the role of Wanda to his wife, the actress Emmanuel Seigneur, and the role of the dramatist-director, who either willingly or unwillingly became an actor, to Mathieu Amalric. Which was used by Polanski and as an inspiration for the decision of the role, as you know, he was repeatedly accused of rape. That’s why he moved to France, not being able to get rid of his old habits.

I don’t know who translated David Ives’ play into Romanian. Perhaps even Olena Morar, the director of the play theater. The show, ironically (perhaps even more so), is dedicated by female directors to all those people with worldWaist who practices abuse in one way or another. Financial, sexual, moral, misunderstood professional authority. And about which a whole series of exposures was made in the press, mainly focused on the fact that shameful things are happening in the perimeter of the theater faculties.

So, we have come to the end of the casting. Failed, as no candidate managed to live up to Tomas Novacek’s demands. What a wonderful, tireless actor Richard Bovnotsky presents us as a decent person. Novacek wrote a play inspired by the novel by Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch, which he is preparing to stage himself. Pesemne, a director who is on the verge of his debut, has already found an interpreter for the role of Severin von Kusimsky. It’s always easier with men. They are more prepared, more refined, more artistically and intellectually gifted. A decent man, who is Tomas Novacek, has a rich bride, he is already, so to speak, domestic. He is in constant phone contact with his lover, and shortly after telling her about all the things he had to go through during the casting, informing her that he will soon arrive for dinner, he falls victim to the apparently sloppy, stupid Wanda Jordan. Open to any compromise just to get the role. In the role of Wanda, I had the opportunity to see again Silva Helena Schmidt, an actress whose path I did not know about in the profession, after I saw her as Celimena in the Yesian version many years ago Misanthrope to Moliere. Read the entire article and comment on it on Contributors.ro