Sex is back: First look images of Aidan Turner in Les Liaisons Dangereuses
By Martin Robinson for The Standard. Photos by Sarah Lee.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses is heading to the National Theatre and here’s a first look inside the steamy (sort of) rehearsal room with Turner, Monica Barbaro and Lesley Manville.
Rehearsal images have been released for Marianne Elliott’s new staging of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Playwright Christopher Hampton’s acclaimed adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ famous novel of seduction, social warfare and outright lies - famously brought to the screen in Stephen Frears’ classic Dangerous Liaisons starring John Malkovich, Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer - has had a refreshed script for its first ever staging at the National Theatre, playing the Lyttelton theatre from 21 March until 6 June. The production will also be screened in cinemas worldwide via National Theatre Live from 25 June.
Cast members include Monica Barbaro (recently in Timothee Chalamet’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown), Gabrielle Drake, Lesley Manville (Olivier-award winner and Oscar nominated for Phantom Thread) and Aidan Turner, who has most recently been acclaimed for Jilly Cooper’s Rivals.
They are joined in the cast by British acting legend Gabrielle Drake (Time and the Conways), as well as 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 blurb for the show is:
The pen is mightier than the sword
Among the glittering salons of the super-rich, patriarchy equals power, reputation is everything – and for women, one misstep can mean ruin. Marquise de Merteuil, master in the art of survival, wields her influence with intelligence and control. Alongside the magnetic Vicomte de Valmont, they turn seduction into strategy and weaponise desire. But when their alliance collapses into rivalry, the battle between them threatens to destroy everyone in their path.
Marianne is joined in the artistic team by 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 CDG and Naomi Downham, voice, and dialect coach Hazel Holder, associate director Mumba Dodwell and associate wigs, hair and make-up designer Adele Brandman.
This is a copy-paste of the article, which is full of pop-up ads in annoying places. If you want the ads, here. The photos I've used differ a bit; I've chosen my favorites.
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