THEATRE
REVIEW:
“LES
LIAISONS DANGEREUSES” at Moonlight Amphitheatre
KPBS
AIRDATE:
I might go so far as to call it "Les
Liaisons Merveilleuses." Every
time the spunky Moonlight Amphitheatre takes a risk, it gets a high return on
its investment. This production is
luscious, and beautifully done.
It's a familiar story of the corruption of
money and power, the use of sex as a weapon, the destructive manipulation of
virtue and idealism by the ruthless forces of vengeance and narcissism. Based on a celebrated 1782 novel by
Choderlos de Laclos, "Les Liaisons" is no frozen, distant, period
piece. The civilized savagery we view
in the late 18th century is no stranger in the late 20th. The battle between the sexes is far from
over. And there are always malicious
but irresistible seducers who can turn their amusement into annihilation.
In this witty, literate drama, the chief
players are the vicious voluptuary, the Marquise de Merteuil, and the rakish
roué, her former lover, the Vicomte de Valmont. For reasons of revenge and amorality, they set out to seduce a
variety of innocents, and ultimately cause a great deal of destruction. We observe the sardonic seductions,
undertaken with the icy heartlessness that makes it clear why their society was
headed for the guillotine. British
playwright Christopher Hampton isn't preaching, but one would be dense to miss
the timely message.
This is not an easy play to mount. There are eighteen scenes and
swiftly-changing locales. The dialogue
is sharp and intelligent and filled with epigrams and double entendre. Director Gary Krinke pared down and
simplified the lines and plot twists, to fine effect. He keeps the action brisk, swirling, almost frenetic at times,
with some of those inter-scene changes becoming intrusive. But, along with a masterful technical staff,
he has brilliantly captured the look and feel of this opulent, salacious, and
emotionally barren world.
At the icy center are Patti Goodwin and Roy
Guenther Werner, as the Marquise and Valmont -- clad in off-white, like
everyone else, looking beautiful against a background of beige -- and
displaying, with great finesse, the mesmerizing appeal of unadulterated
evil. Sometimes we actually root for
the bad guys. We get caught up in their
demonic energy. We believe their
sensuality and their cruel insensitivity.
Their victims seem so weak and pale and spineless by comparison.
This is a chilling evening of theater, a
coolly cynical commentary on those times - and these. It doesn't take a Malkovich or a Close to make it happen. It takes a detailed, well-orchestrated plan,
and more than a dash of pluck for a community theater to mount an exciting
I'm Pat Launer, for KPBS radio.
©1992 Patté Productions Inc.