Stephen Riordan directs ‘Venus in Fur’ at The Studio@620

This week delivers the debut of St. Petersburg’s latest theater company, Dead Canary, whose artistic director and co-founder has been a familiar name and face on the local stage scene for years.

He’s Stephen Riordan, and he’s directing the company’s first show, David Ives’ sexy, scintillating and sometimes scary Venus in Fur, opening Thursday at Dead Canary’s home base, The Studio @620.

First, that name. Riordan says he and his partners wanted something that suggested immediate action. This led to the phrase “canary in a coalmine,” a metaphor for danger if one did not move quickly.

“If the canary’s dead, it’s too late, man,” Riordan laughs. “It’s now or never to hear this story.”

The conversation about naming might have included one or two glasses of wine, but it made sense to them at the time, and it makes sense now.

There are just two characters in Venus in Fur, which is sometimes billed as a dark comedy: Thomas, a director who is at the end of his tether after auditioning bad actresses all day, and Vanda, who wanders into the auditions late and insists on reading for the role.

The play-within-the-play is an adaptation of a 19th century German erotica novel, exploring themes of dominance and masochism.

“What I love about Venus in Fur,” Riordan said, “is that it’s a power play, a power struggle. It says so much about, first of all, any actress that’s ever gone into a casting office – but second, any person that goes in for a job interview. They’re not sure what the power play’s going to be.

“And this awesome shift between what this guy thinks he has versus what he gets in Vanda, it’s so much fun to watch. To watch this very delicate dance until it gets to the point where we’re like ‘Oh, what’s going to happen here?’ It just turns it on its head, and you just have to have somebody that’s willing to go there.”

Rachel Prather and Travis Moore rehearsing “Venus in Fur.” Photo: Stephen Riordan.

The St. Pete production stars Rachel Prather, a homegrown talent who currently lives in the New York area and has appeared in several Broadway shows, and longtime bay area actor Travis Moore.

“This,” Riordan explained, “is so against type for Rachel. She usually gets cast in girl-next-door roles. When she was in The Band’s Visit [on Broadway], she was meek and mousy, and she gets cast in a lot of those things because that’s just her vibe.

“And Travis, ultimately, is against type too. He’s just the nicest, most kind feminist man in the world. He cares so much about the rights of women. When we started talking about this, I said to both of them, ‘Listen, I’m excited to do this with both of you because we’re such good friends, but this is going to have to be a challenge for both of you. You’re going to have to really go there.’

“And what they’re doing, the theater gods are with us. It’s awesome.”

Riordan is also a St. Pete native. He was an active member of the drama department at St. Pete Catholic High School, and later studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

He lived in New York City on three different occasions, waiting for the theatrical brass ring to swing in his direction, but in 2023 chucked it all in and came home for good.

Dead Canary – his partners are actor Moore and Rand Smith – was formed in partnership with The Studio@620, part of artistic director Erica Sutherlin’s “next generation” of creatives orbiting the venerable downtown space.

It’s officially the Resident Theater Company of The Studio@620. “That means that we get the first look at the calendar when the Studio sets their season,” Riordan said. “They’ll co-produce the shows that we produce, so we’ll be in concert with them.”

Should they choose, if the desired dates aren’t available at 620, Dead Canary can put up a show elsewhere. Nobody expects that to happen, however. “Ultimately, we give them the first view of what we want to do in the season, and they give us the first stab at the calendar.”

The next Dead Canary show will arrive in September.

“It’s such a great space, The Studio,” Riordan raved. “I think anybody that goes to see a play there understands what they’re in for. You can do big shows there, but the intimate things are what I love and I’m drawn to.

“And I like directing small plays with small casts. Get in there and punch each other out for a little bit.”

Showtimes and tickets for Venus in Fur are available at this link.