This Sunday afternoon and again on Tuesday evening, the Rosendale Theatre presents the latest in its series of screenings of classic works captured live on the British stage via National Theatre from London. This time it’s the Donmar Warehouse’s revival of Christopher Hampton’s acclaimed 1985 adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
The original epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in 1782, caused a sensation with its frankly amoral depiction of the decadence of the French aristocracy just prior to the Revolution. It unfolds the story of two ex-lovers, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, who goad each other into a series of seductions for the purposes of revenge. They make a cynical game of it all, leaving a wreck of hearts, lives and marriages in their wake. Hampton’s tense, erotic stage version was a huge hit both in London and on Broadway and was the basis of the 1988 Stephen Frears movie Dangerous Liaisons.
The new production is directed by Josie Rourke and stars Michelle Dockery, Janet McTeer and Dominic West. Screenings at the Rosendale Theatre, located at 408 Main Street (Route 213) in Rosendale, begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 28 and at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1. Tickets cost $12 general admission, $10 for Rosendale Theatre Collective members. For more info, call (845) 658-8989 or visit www.rosendaletheatre.org. For more about the production, see https://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ntlout14-les-liaisons-dangereuses.
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