Casting is now complete for the National Theatre's revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which will play the Lyttelton March 21–June 6 with an official opening April 1. Marianne Elliott's (Angels in America) production will also be screened in cinemas worldwide via National Theatre Live beginning June 25.
Christopher Hampton's (The Father) adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ novel will have a refreshed script for its first-ever staging at the National.
The company will be led by the previously reported Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Gabrielle Drake (Time and the Conways), Lesley Manville (currently on Broadway in Oedipus, Phantom Thread), and Aidan Turner (Rivals). They will be joined by the newly announced Ishmail Aaron, Sharif Afifi, Curtis Angus, Charlotte Avery, Nandi Bhebhe, Lucia Chocarro, Liz Ewing, Ali Goldsmith, Darragh Hand, Georges Hann, Dianté Lodge, Katie Lusby, Amy Macken, Aisha Naamani, Bryony Pennington, Cat Simmons, and Hannah van der Westhuysen.
The play follows Marquise de Merteuil, master in the art of survival, and the magnetic Vicomte de Valmont, who turn seduction into strategy and weaponize desire. But when their alliance collapses into rivalry, the battle between them threatens to destroy everyone in their path.
The creative team also includes set designer Rosanna Vize, costume designer Natalie Roar, choreographer Tom Jackson Greaves, composer Jasmin Kent Rodgman, lighting designer James Farncombe, sound designer Ian Dickinson for Autograph, intimacy director Ingrid Mackinnon, fight director Sam Lyon-Behan, casting directors Alastair Coomer and Naomi Downham, voice and dialect coach Hazel Holder, associate director Mumba Dodwell, and associate wigs, hair, and make-up designer Adele Brandman.
The 1987 Broadway production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, starring Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan, received seven Tony nominations, including Best Play. The 2008 revival, which featured Laura Linney and Ben Daniels, received five Tony nominations, winning Best Costume Design of a Play. The most recent Broadway staging, in 2016, featured Janet McTeer and Liev Schreiber.
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