Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Faber Drama)

Based on the 1782 novel by Choderlos de Laclos and written for the stage by Christopher Hampton, LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES debuted in England in 1985 and had several different productions, with most of the original cast, before a successful run in London’s West End. The play opened in New York in 1987, where it ran 149 performances. It was subsequently adapted for the screen as the 1988 DANGEROUS LIAISONS, a critically lauded film starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer. The play requires a cast of six women and four men. It is set in the 1700s, not long before the French Revolution, and as such it requires period costumes and sets. The play is performed in two acts, each with nine scenes; the set changes with each scene.The play concerns the relationship between La Marquise de Merteuil and La Vicomte de Valmont, the former a highly respected widow, the latter a raffish bachelor, both well known in the society of their era. They are discrete sociopaths who conceal their behavior behind a mask of manners, manipulating others into sexual relationships and then behaving with vicious cruelty toward their lovers.When the play begins, Merteuil asks Valmont to seduce and thoroughly debauch Cecile Volanges, who has recently left convent school and will be married to a highly respectable who demands a virgin as a bride. Valmont declines; he is pursuing La Presidente de Tourvel, a woman noted for her high moral standards, and hopes to force to fall in love with him, and have an affair with him, in spite of her religious beliefs. These two plot lines cross as the play progresses, and the relationships between Merteuil, Valmont, and their prey spiral into a series of increasingly vicious games—that come to a climax when Merteuil and Valmont square off against each other, each determined to destroy the other.LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES is in a certain sense as formal as a delicate, meticulously performed minuet. It has a certain beauty that highlights the nastiness of its leading characters, whose extreme behavior outstrip every subsequent melodrama right down to present day. It is both funny and awful, attractive and repellent. The script is intricate, and requires expert performers and artful designers under the leadership of a gifted director. It is also a script that reads as well on the page as it plays on the stage—and which will likely prompt readers to seek out the original novel.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I adore this play. This is a script. If you like the show and can read a script. Go for it

This is an excellent play!Christopher Hampton has done a wonderful job adapting Choderlos Delaclos' original 18th century epistolary novel.Set in the high excess of the ancien regime, it is a story of personal corruption, betrayal, revenge, and - yes - love, that is hilarious and gut-wrenching by turns.See it on stage if you can, but by all means read it too - it makes for a better read than a lot of plays.

I wanted this particular edition of the play because included within are pictures of England's cast and New York's when 1985-87. It is as pictured, and in great condition. A welcome addition to my collection!

"Acting addition" means that several scenes have been cut. I don't recommend this version.

Brilliant adaptation. Characters are so well drawn, and the play's dark, cynical vision makes it enticing.

This is the real deal. I used this script to learn the part of Valmont so that I could approach and audition with the lines already learned. Got the part, used the script and saved my local theatre company from having to buy one.

How is the story narrated? IT'S A PLAY, DOOF!

Wonderful copy of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Its even more special to me because it's an edition from when Alan Rickman played Valmont.

A perfect copy of a wonderful play. Thank you

Needed for A level studies. Met expectations and arrived in good time.

Book came in great condition, the play is wonderful and I have nothing bad to say about this. Over all very happy with the play.

Very good condition, excellent read