Les Liaisons Dangereuses

I watched Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the Donmar Theatre and rate it 5/5 ! What could be better than French scandalous comedy with brilliant acting.



It's an old story, told in an old fashioned way. It's the same old love, deception, revenge. And usually old stories bore me to death in spite of stars like Benedict Cumberbatch but I watch for the stars sometimes. And so I agreed to watch this for Dominic West with little expectations. So may that's why I give a five, because it was well beyond my expectations but might be not so in general.

Yet it was wonderful. Dominic West was charming and ruthless as the Vicomte de Valmont, so I was glad I went to watch him. Janet McTeer however, admirably a brilliant actor, played the lead Marquise de Merteuil which such dignified cruelty that I can't imagine anyone else portraying her.

The story twists and turns and keeps you running with it. It also helps that we were sitting in the front row and can't as much as yawn when the actor is staring right at you, so we gave the show our undivided attention. We could also pick up on the little comic expressions that Valmont plays up with subtlety. The sets were rather simple with bare minimum furniture yet the  chandeliers and ornate candle stands set the mood to the French ancient regime. And a huge applause for all the ladies, of which there were many, for playing their roles in breathless corsets.

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