Les Liaisons Dangereuses
|
The play, written by Christopher Hampton, is based on a French novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in 1782.
It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, two narcissistic rivals (and ex-lovers) who use seduction as a weapon to socially control and exploit others. Valmont is determined to seduce the virtuous, married, and therefore inaccessible Madame de Tourvel. At the same time, Merteuil is determined to corrupt the young Cécile de Volanges, whose mother has brought her out of a convent to be married. However, Cécile falls in love with the Chevalier Danceny. Merteuil and Valmont pretend to help the lovers in order to gain their trust and manipulate them to benefit their own schemes. It has been seen as depicting the corruption and depravity of the French nobility shortly before the French Revolution. It has also been described as merely a story about two amoral people. In 1988 it was was made into a Hollywood film, Dangerous Liaisons, starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer. |
Our 2021/22 season and more ...
|
17th-19th February 2022 Ivan Menchell's dramatic comedy about three Jewish widows who meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands’ graves, until a new love interest disrupts the group. |
|