A Scandalous Classic

The classic tale of sexual intrigue returns to Broadway for the first time in eight years. Based on the controversial 18th Century novel by Pierre Choderlos de Loclos, this sultry drama follows two French aristocrats who engage in a cat and mouse game of sex and seduction, with no concern for the hearts that they break and the lives that they ruin along the way. Adapted by Oscar winner Christopher Hampton, this Donmar Warehouse production arrives in New York following a sold out run in London's West End.

This Booth Theatre transfer is headed by two Tony winners. Starring as La Marquise de Merteuil is Janet McTeer (A Doll's House) while her rival in manipulation Le Vicomte de Valmont is played by Liev Schreiber (Glengarry Glen Ross, Spotlight).

Les Adaptations

One of the great classics of modern theater, Les Liaisons Dangereuses has a storied history on the Broadway stage. It debuted in 1987 at The Music Box Theatre with Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan, and won a Tony for its director Howard Davies, then returned in 2008 with Laura Linney among the cast. The play was also memorably adapted for the big screen in 1988 as Dangerous Liaisons, with a never better John Malkovich playing opposite Glenn Close.

What is Les Liaisons Dangereuses About?

In a France on the eve of Revolution, spurned lover Marquise de Merteuil plots revenge against Comte de Bastide, who has rejected her in favour of a young, convent-educated virgin named Cecile. Merteuil calls upon her ex-lover Le Vicomte de Valmont, who is her equal in ways of devious manipulation, to seduce the young Cecile, in return for sexual favours from herself. Yet Valmont considers this too easy a task, and modifies the proposal - Merteuil will sleep with him if he instead seduces the chaste wife of a local judge.

It's the beginning of an intricate and perverse escapade, with the pair's plotting becoming ever more intricate, and the consequences of their actions growing ever more deadly.