“Les Liaisons Dangereuses” at the Lyttelton, National Theatre
Neil Dowden on the South Bank
★★★★☆
10 April 2026
Christopher Hampton’s 1985 dramatization of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s 1782 epistolary novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses once more exerts a seductive menace in Marianne Elliott’s superb revival at the National Theatre starring Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner. Laclos may have intended to expose the moral corruption of the ancien régime’s aristocracy in pre-revolutionary France, but a range of modern interpretations in theatre, film, TV, opera, and ballet show the intrigues still intrigue in a post-truth world where the super-rich thrive.
Aidan Turner and Lesley Manville.
Photo credit: Sarah Lee.
Initially the plot hatched by the equally duplicitous Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont draws us into their superficially glamorous sphere so we become almost co-conspirators. Merteuil wants to avenge her lover who has left her to marry the 16-year-old convent-educated girl Cécile by persuading her former lover Valmont to take her virginity before the wedding – while offering Valmont a night with herself as reward. At first Valmont declines because the challenge is too easy and he is more interested in seducing the virtuously married Madame de Tourvel. But when he discovers Cécile’s mother has been warning Tourvel against him he changes his mind – and the game begins.
Merteuil and Valmont pose as confidants to Cécile and her music teacher Chevalier Danceny who are in love, while manipulating them for their own ends. But when, despite himself, Valmont falls in love with Tourvel the scheme spirals out of control as raw emotions come to the fore and threaten to destroy the lives of all those entangled in the web of lies.
The sophisticated comedy of Hampton’s witty adaptation turns much darker later on when the ugly reality of grooming and abuse is revealed. It’s evidently a work that damns the decadent behaviour of an over-privileged upper class, with desire weaponized as part of power games. But it’s not a level playing field even within this elite, in a patriarchal society where women can be ruined if they lose their reputation. With real love seen as a weakness to be exploited, Merteuil exhorts, “Never show pity, especially to the vulnerable.”
Photo credit: Sarah Lee.
Elliott’s production balances the surface sexiness with underlying nastiness. It’s a dynamic show that gains much from the increasingly frenetic dance sequences from choreographer Tom Jackson Greaves, not just masked ballroom swirling between scenes but embodying the repressed desires and fears of Tourvel in particular as she is shown pursued by men led by Valmont. Rosanna Vize’s set features portable walls and doorways that are moved around by the ensemble to labyrinthine effect, as well as mirrors on three sides in which characters are seen from unexpected perspectives, topped by a frieze of erotic female nudes, and a glittering globular chandelier. Natalie Roar’s stunning costumes display the fashion-conscious salons of the period. Jasmin Kent Rodgman’s recorded vocal score helps to drive on the drama.
Having played the young Cécile in the original RSC production, Lesley Manville comes full circle to give a riveting performance as the ruthlessly controlling Marquise de Merteuil who claims she “was born to dominate the opposite sex and avenge her own” – but whose mask slips by the end. Aidan Turner also impresses as her cynically virile partner in crime Vicomte de Valmont whose predatory instincts are finally undone by more tender feelings. American screen star Monica Barbaro makes an assured stage debut as the tragically conflicted Madame de Tourvel who is overcome by shame after falling for Valmont. Hannah van der Westhuysen conveys Cécile’s development from giggling ingénue corrupted by Valmont’s enforced “instruction” to take on the guise of the Marquise, while the romantic ideals of Darragh Hand’s Chevalier Danceny are similarly tarnished by Merteuil’s toxic femininity.
