Merteuil tricks Valmont into breaking his affair with Tourvel, who then falls deathly ill. Their plans run smoothly until Valmont develops real feelings for Tourvel and falls in love with her, sparking jealousy in Merteuil. Merteuil and Valmont promise to help the young lovers, but instead Valmont seduces Cecile, and Merteuil takes Danceny as her lover. Merteuil hires a music tutor for Cecile, Chevalier Danceny he and Cecile fall in love. Valmont wagers Merteuil that he can seduce the virtuous and married Madame de Tourvel, while Merteuil wants revenge against her ex-lover, the Comte de Gercourt, who left her for the young Cecile Volanges, now his fiancée. As two aristocrats in the high society of pre-revolutionary Paris, their favourite sport is treating those around them as pawns in their cruel games of revenge and manipulation. The complex play centres on the relationship between rivals and ex-lovers, Vicomte de Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil. This production promises to be just as deliciously wicked and thrilling as it was the first time its subject matter is as relevant today as it was in eighteenth century Paris. The classic story of revenge, manipulation and betrayal has been adapted to several mediums including film, radio and even an opera. The late Alan Rickman, known for his role as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, played Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ world premiere and both London and Broadway productions.Adobe Stock Les Liaisons Dangereuses London Tickets Les Liaisons Dangereuses London Ticketsįor the first time in thirty years, Les Liaisons Dangereuses will seduce London audiences in this revival production at the Donmar Warehouse. In 1782, when owning a copy of Laclos’ novel became a transgression, Marie Antoinette requested a copy of it-bound in a blank cover to hide the title and author’s name so visitors wouldn’t recognize it among the other books in her private library. Purchase your tickets to this artful masterpiece at StubHub today and experience the StubHub Advantage. Both theaters are adorned with sgraffito exteriors, the last examples in New York of this once popular decorating technique. It sits next to the Schubert Theatre, the second of the pair. It was built by Lee Schubert as one of a pair – Booth is the less extravagant of the two. Les Liaisons Dangereuses comes to the Broadway stage at Booth Theatre, a venue named for the actor Edwin Booth (the infamous John Wilkes Booth’s brother). What begins as a perverse game becomes the undoing for everyone involved-including the merciless schemers. The pair scheme to avenge Merteuil’s former love interest by deflowering his innocent virgin the night before their wedding and to seduce a virtuous married woman to satisfy Valmont’s lust. No longer interested in each other for sexual pleasure, they set their sights on revenge and lust. The Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont long for a bit of excitement as they languish among the privileged in pre-revolutionary France. In 1988, Hampton adapted the play for the screen for the film version, entitled Dangerous Liaisons, starring Glenn Close as Merteuil and John Malkovich as Valmont, for which Hampton received an Academy Award. The play made its Broadway debut on April 30, 1987, at the Music Box Theatre. The 1986 London production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and Best Actress for Lindsay Duncan’s portrayal of Merteuil. Les Liaisons Dangereuses made its world premiere in 1985 as a Royal Shakespeare Company production at The Other Place in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Hampton skillfully captures the intensity of the cat-and-mouse games the two villains orchestrate for their amusement. Hailed by London critics as “theater at its most seductive,” Les Liaisons Dangereuses is not appropriate for children.īritish playwright Christopher Hampton crafted the script from the scandalous novel written in 1782 by Pierre-Ambroise Choderlos de Laclos. Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) is a dramatic play that explores what happens when two bored ex-lovers compete to manipulate the social innocents in their social circle for sport. Adobe Stock Les Liaisons Dangereuses New York Tickets Les Liaisons Dangereuses