George Street Playhouse to Present VENUS IN FUR, 4/23-5/18, 2013

George Street Playhouse has announced that VENUS IN FUR by David Ives will complete the line-up for the 2012-13 season. The theatre's spring production, which had previously been unannounced, will run from April 23 through May 18. Opening Night will be on Friday, April 26.

Described as "the sexy hit of the New York theatre season, this electrifying and darkly seductive comedy will shock and surprise as it deftly blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. With a crash of thunder and lightning, an arresting young actress, Vanda, arrives hours late at the end of a long and unfruitful audition day. An emotionally-charged game of cat and mouse unfolds as Vanda makes clear her determination to land the lead in Thomas' new play, an adaptation of the classic erotic novel, Venus in Fur."

Venus in Fur is recommended for audiences ages 17 and older.

Tickets for Venus in Fur as well as Season Subscription packages are currently on sale, and may be purchased by calling the George Street Playhouse Box Office 732-246-7717 or by visiting www.gsponline.org . George Street Playhouse is located at 9 Livingston Avenue, in the heart of New Brunswick's dining and entertainment district.

Group Rate tickets are available for parties of 10 or more and may be purchased through the GSP Group Sales Office at 732-846-2895, ext. 134 or by email at mbergamo@georgestplayhouse.org.

David Ives is probably best known for his evenings of one-act comedies called All in the Timing and Time Flies. All in the Timing won the Outer Critics Circle Playwriting Award, ran for two years Off-Broadway, and in the 1995-96 season was the most performed play in the country after Shakespeare productions. His full-length plays include The School For Lies (adapted from Moliere's The Misanthrope and a major hit at New York's Classic Stage Company last spring); The Heir Apparent (an adaptation of J-F Regnard's comedy that was an audience and critical hit at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. this past fall); New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza, which won the prestigious Hull-Warriner Award; Is He Dead? (adapted from Mark Twain); White Christmas; Polish Joke; and Ancient History. He has translated Feydeau's classic farce A Flea in Her Ear, Yazmina Reza's drama A Spanish Play, and Pierre Corneille's 1643 comedy The Liar (also an enormous hit at the Shakespeare Theatre Company two years ago). David Ives is the author of three young-adult novels: Monsieur Eek, Scrib, and Voss, and he has adapted 32 American musicals for New York City's beloved Encores! series. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama and a former Guggenheim Fellow in playwriting, he lives in New York City.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Saint, George Street Playhouse has become a nationally recognized theatre, presenting an acclaimed mainstage season while providing an artistic home for established and emerging theatre artists. Noted Arts Administrator Norma Kaplan was appointed Managing Director in September 2011. Founded in 1974, The Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and off-Broadway – recent productions include the Outer Critics' Circle Best Musical Award-winner The Toxic Avenger, the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Drama League nominated production of The Spitfire Grill and the recent Broadway hit and Tony® and Pulitzer Prize winning play Proof by David Auburn, which was developed at GSP during the 1999 Next Stage Series of new plays. In addition to its mainstage season, GSP's Touring Theatre features four issue-oriented productions that are seen by more than 40,000 students annually. George Street Playhouse programming is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by its lead season sponsor, Johnson & Johnson. The Star-Ledger is 2012-2013 print media sponsor of George Street Playhouse.