In 1782, Choderlos de Laclos' novel of sex, intrigue and betrayal in pre-revolutionary France scandalized the world. Two hundred years later, in 1985, Christopher Hampton's stage adaptation became an award-winning sensation in London's West End and on Broadway, followed by the Academy Award-winning film Dangerous Liaisons.
Former lovers, La Marquise de Merteuil and Le Vicomte de Valmont compete in games of seduction and revenge. These merciless aristocrats toy with the hearts and reputations of innocents. Merteuil incites Valmont to corrupt the convent-educated Cecile de Volanges before her wedding night but Valmont has other designs. His target is the peerlessly virtuous and happily married Madame de Tourvel.
Josie Rourke's acclaimed production transfers to Broadway after a sold-out engagement at London's Donmar Warehouse which ended earlier this year and starred Janet McTeer. The production was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Revival.
Tony Award winners Janet McTeer and Liev Schreiber will return to Broadway this Fall in the Donmar Warehouse production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton, directed by the Donmar's Artistic Director Josie Rourke.
Therefore, any production of this play requires Valmont to have a palpable ticker. Simply put, you just don't believe that here. Schreiber, handsome devil though he may be, just does not appear to have enough skin in the game. There is a listlessness to this performance - which is problematic since the basic equipment required of even the lowest tier of Casanova is great enthusiasm for the task at hand. Schreiber seems to want to expend the minimum amount of energy, nothing really beyond his probing hand and fingers, which works against the operating procedure of a smooth-tongued seducer whose flattering charm is his principal weapon. More problematic yet, the crucial turn-key scene in the play where Valmont's true feelings and insecurities are revealed feels no different from any other.
In Liev Schreiber's eccentric performance, this audio disconnect provides one of the few pleasures in what is otherwise a lethargic production, one that originated at London's Donmar Warehouse under the direction of Josie Rourke. Schreiber sounds as if Laurence Oliver's tenor is fighting Richard Burton's baritone, with all of this disharmony emitting from the esteemed American actor's great granite face.
1987 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2008 | Broadway |
Roundabout Revival Broadway |
2015 | West End |
Donmar Warehouse Production West End |
2016 | Broadway |
Donmar Warehouse Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
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