Leave it to Mark Klugheit to push the envelope in matters of theater programming. Rarely deterred by criticism for producing plays deemed too risky or out of bounds, he remains invested in cultivating candid discussions on staging exceptional works otherwise known for extreme shock value.
It begins as a strained interplay between a fretful playwright/director and a high-strung, vulgar actress desperate for an audition. No sooner had they acknowledged their unsuitable chemistry than they found themselves enmeshed in a clever pas de deux that blurs our sense of reality. It’s an intellectual dance that unearths a primal game of sexual submission and domination, echoing what happens in the novel. A compelling point of reference: “Masochism” is a word inspired by the author’s surname.