Review: For the Love of VENUS

By Natalie Grillo

"The Venus Hottentot is dead. There won't be any show tonight." This is one of the first lines you hear in the opening scene of Venus. You don't know who or what the Venus Hottentot is, or how they died, but you already want to know what happened. You want to know what kind of impact she had on these people. Was it good, was it bad? This show had me hooked within the first scene.

One of the first people you see on stage is The Mother Showman, who is in charge of the freak show that surrounds her. She looks like a combination between the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland and Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games. With a thick British accent, she demands your attention and draws you into her world. Erin Wholley, who played this role, had such a magnificent presence on stage. You didn't feel like you were watching a student play a role, but rather watching this over the top woman doing her job and trying to make money off these "freaks."

A little bit into the show; we are introduced to the Venus Hottentot. Played by Corrina Parham, Venus is an extremely diverse and complex character. We first see her as simply a woman who cleans for a living. A man then asks her if she would like to move to Europe to become a princess. As soon as she arrives however, her world is nothing like a fairytale. She is thrown in with a bunch of other "freaks" where they are all treated like animals. However Venus becomes the main attraction because of her large buttocks. She is also the only one of them who is of darker skin color. I had so much respect for Corrina, standing on a box, barely dressed, being exposed for all of the audience to see. Yet she stood there, confident and proud, as the Venus had first felt. Venus soon realizes that she is not being treated like a princess, but rather being laughed at, harassed, touched, and mocked. Venus thought she was going to paradise; when in reality she was entering her own personal hell. Even so, she knew she was the main attraction of the show, and knew she was making the most profit for the Mother Showman. Rather than try to escape, Venus requests more money. No matter how awful the circumstances, Venus knows this is how she is going to make her living and survive.

Throughout the show, in a box above the stage, the actors periodically perform scenes from "For the Love of Venus" which gave a comedic and almost satirical aspect on the story. Close to intermission, we are introduced to the Doctor. He purchases Venus and takes her to France. Even though he begins by simply examining and analyzing her body, he falls in love with Venus.

The second act focused more on the romantic relationship between Venus and the Doctor. The question Venus repeatedly asked him was "Love me?" This is what I took away from the show-simple human compassion. No matter what Venus had been through- all she wanted was to be loved, and wanted to be missed, which is really what every person wants. Venus is most definitely someone who will be remembered. For the right reasons? I'm not so sure.

The ensemble cast was phenomenal. Almost like a Greek chorus, they traveled in unison and spoke a lot in unison. This group of people played both the freaks, the spectators, as well as the doctor's team. They did a great job of transitioning from these scary and contortioned freaks to sophisticated and intellectual doctors. The Negro Ressurectionist played by Fatima Cadet-Diaby was another stand-out performance. She almost acted as a narrator/analyst of the show. She counted down the scenes, which appeared as though she was counting down the days to the death of Venus.

I couldn't help but think that the story of Venus is not much different than a lot of women's lives today. Many people pay to stare at women's bodies. The human body is something people are constantly fascinated by, especially the female body. The sexual objectification of women is something that is only growing in society today, especially as a result of mass media. Venus gave us a view of this dating all the way back to the early 19th century. Unfortunately I don't think this is going to change any time soon.

The UMass Amherst production of Venus ran from March 28-April 6 at the Curtain Theatre.

To post a comment, you must register and login.