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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Verdict: Camp drama of Gallic copulation
London - White Bear Theatre - March 03
White Bear Theatre, London 11-15 March 03 and Marlborough Theatre, Brighton 17-22 March 03
Briefly: Period-costume sex dares between French ex-lovers go wrong.
Ageing roué Valmont and debauched ex-lover Mme Merteuil bet about who can fuck whom. Under cover of light badinage they still fancy each other - in a mutually destructive way.
Since the Marquis De Sade, those Frenchies have never liked it plain and simple - and Les Liaisons Dangerous is long (2hr 10 min + interval) and complex. It's a camp caustic dissection of sexual perversion. Not perversion in its everyday sense (no badgers), but sex excised from the context of love. Or even desire - it's sex used as a weapon, and betting slip.
The Marquise de Merteuil (Wendy Jane Quelch) wants former squeeze Vicomte de Valmont (Vicomte de Valmont) to seduce 15-year-old virgin Cecile Volanges (Kirsten Shaw). It's to get even with a man Cecile's to marry. Cecile's quite taken with young intellectual Chevalier Danceny (Jamie Alexander Bannerman), but her mother Mme de Volanges (Cristina Fagarazzi) is not necessarily keen.
Valmont wants to seduce devout, married 22-year-old Mme de Tourvel (Erin Christy). She's staying with his aunt Mme de Rosemonde (Christine Hounslow). His servant Azolan (Warwick Allen) is there to help. Valmont's courtesan Emilie (Alexandra Childs), is at hand for off-duty sex.
Will Valmont penetrate more than Mme de Tourvel's reserve? Is Cecile considerably less demure than she seems? Will Merteuil and Valmont re-consummate, or is Mme up for vingt centimetres of Chevalier (and we're not talking about Maurice)? Will it all end in tears? Answers are slowly revealed.
The play centres on the coldly tempestuous relationship between Wendy Jane Quelch's Merteuil and Ian Ganderton's Valmont. Each has enormous quantities of script to deliver, which they manage with a gifted ear for its many nuances. Quelch and Ganderton touch the essentially passionless inner selves of two apparently passionate people in a convincing pairing which supports the framework of the action.
Erin Christy is a fine and convincing de Tourvel, of stern morals and volcanic heart - it's an excellent and emotional performance. Jamie Alexander Bannerman delivers foolish Danceny with wit and a fine light touch. Cristina Fagarazzi is a superbly vacillatory de Volanges, changing flow with each new current of the plot. Christine Hounslow is an entertainingly pragmatic de Rosemonde, delivering her surprisingly astute judgments with aplomb. Kirsten Shaw's a highly amusing Cecile, handling her surprising changes of character with wit and perception.
Two highlights of the evening belong to apparently minor characters, stunningly delivered. Warwick Allen creates out of servant Azolan a performance of great delight, humour and subtlety. His Azolan's world-weary acceptance is a joy to behold. Alexandra Childs delivers an Emilie bursting with delight and sensuality. Her Emilie exudes a reckless life-loving, joyful blast of honest humanity - which contrasts excellently with the cynical manipulations of Christopher Hampton's powerful script.
Cast Credits: (alpha order):
Warwick Allen (Azolan). Jamie Alexander Bannerman (Chevalier Danceny). Alexandra Childs (Emilie). Erin Christy (Mme de Tourvel). Cristina Fagarazzi (Mme de Volanges). Ian Ganderton (Vicomte de Valmont). Christine Hounslow (Mme de Rosemonde). Wendy Jane Quelch (Marquise de Merteuil). Kirsten Shaw (Cecile Volanges).
Company Credits: (programme order): Director - Robin Manuel. Producer - Wendy Jane Quelch. Lighting Designer - Christopher Umney. Technician - Richard Southcott. Company - Affa Theatre. Writer - Christopher Hampton. Artistic Director White Bear Theatre Club - Michael Kingsbury.
END
John Park
reviewed 15 March 03 / White Bear Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
