About the Play:

Les Liaisons Dangereuses has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female/Female Scenes and Female/Male Scenes.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a full-length period drama by Christopher Hampton, from the saucy 1782 novel of sex, intrigue and betrayal by French author Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Two rival aristocrats use seduction and debauchery in a cruel game of revenge, manipulation and degradation. But their lives of supreme self-indulgence are about to fall apart. At risk is their social standing, their integrity, even their lives... because one of them is about to fall in love.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a tale of seduction set in France among aristocrats before the revolution. Former lovers, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont are bored and compete in games of seduction and revenge. These merciless aristocrats seduced whom they wanted and ruined dozens of reputations. Why? To pass the time and, frankly, because they can. They are dangerous to know and only open their mouths when they have first calculated how much damage they can do. 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. This is a classic drama for exploring decadent sexuality, morals and manipulation played as the ultimate game with tragic results. This classic drama for exploring decadent sexuality, morals and manipulation played as the ultimate game with tragic results, expertly adapted for the stage by Christopher Hampton, has lost none of its power and bite. Its depiction of a society lost in itself and about to be cleansed by the French revolution is one of the great cautionary tales of all time. It warns that, in spite of a sumptuous surface, things can be rotten underneath. Make sure that those who smile at you are your friends..

The Royal Shakespeare Company's stunning production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses met with acclaim in Stratford-upon-Avon im 1985 (winning the Evening Standard Award for Best Play), the Barbican Centre in London in 1986 (winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play), and on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in 1987 (winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Foreign Play). The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional repertory, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 6 female, 4 male and extras

What people say:

"A compelling evening of malicious wit." — New York Times

"An evening of high comedy, high drama and surprising passion." — New York Post

"Perfect." — New York Daily News

"Bristles with tart, funny and exquisitely molded lines…. Contemporary playwriting at its very best." — Financial Times

About the Playwright:

Christopher Hampton is a British playwright, screenwriter, director, producer, and a consummate translator and adaptor of novels. He is perhaps most famous for his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses (based on the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos), which won an Olivier Award in 1986. He adapted the play for film and won an Oscar for the screenplay. His theatre work includes the stage adaptation of Sunset Boulevard for Andrew Lloyd Webber, which received Tony Awards for both Book and Lyrics. He has translated a wide range of works including classics by Chekhov, Ibsen and Moliere as well as contemporary plays by Yasmina Reza and Florian Zeller. His long list of screenplays includes A Doll's House, The Good Father, Total Eclipse, and The Quiet American.