Some fifteen years ago, a theatre company was formed by a group of like-minded and spirited actors, designers and a composer, who felt there were very few opportunities for Welsh-based artists to create and perform works of classic texts. Over the next decade, with very little money but with considerable ambition, the remarkable Mappa Mundi created and performed over twenty productions, some with a cheeky twist, but always with gusto and energy: Titus Andronicus in Kabuki style, an all male version of Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed in a castle with a backdrop of fireworks, and King Lear played by a woman and the daughters played by men. After the critical and popular successes of their most recent touring production – She Stoops To Conquer, which was in fact a co-production with Pembrokeshire’s very own Torch Theatre Company and Theatr Mwldan, this dynamic theatre company is out to seduce their audiences with a sizzling tale of love and revenge, seduction, conquest…. and french letters. Dangerous Liaisons is a new stage adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel which, on its publication in March 1782, was an overnight sensation and simultaneously the scandal of society. Members of the aristocracy, their servants, and the merchants and middle classes who kept society ticking over, all eagerly purchased the novel - anxious to see themselves depicted in print. From the humblest to the highest, French society was bewitched by Les Liaisons Dangereuses and its exposé of the sexual mores of the aristocracy. Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated Queen of Louis XVI, had a velvet-bound copy of the book with a built-in lock and key in her personal library. It went on to become a major film in the 1980’s starring Michelle Pfeiffer, John Malkovich and Glenn Close. Seductive, decadent and fun, the tale is set amongst the glittering chandeliers and marble salons of Paris on the eve of the French Revolution. A sumptuously mounted celebration of artful wickedness, betrayal, and sexual intrigue among depraved 18th-century French aristocrats, the seedy reality of the old French aristocracy is exposed as a society in which the most innocent and noble-minded become the sexual prey of a couple of bored and decadent ex-lovers: the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont. This new stage adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses remains very close to the plot of the novel, and, like the book, follows the character of Cécile de Volanges as she makes her journey from convent to boudoir, always keeping her at the heart of the drama. La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid – Revenge is a dish best served cold The story unfolds through a series of letters written by the idle rich. Each missive exposes plots and counterplots until sexual corruption and the desire for vengeance propels the story to its tragic ending. Starring Keiron Self who plays the hapless dentist Roger Bailey in BBC1’s sit-com My Family (alongside Robert Lindsay and Zoë Wanamaker who have recently become Mappa Mundi’s Patrons), there will be a welcome for some now familiar faces – Kath Dimery and Lynne Seymour who both appeared in She Stoops to Conquer and in particular Torch Theatre Company favourite Ed Harrison who appeared alongside them and also entertained audiences throughout the summer as the lovable vet, Tom, in The Norman Conquests. Sophisticated, witty, raucous, dark, sensual and insightful - but most of all, very, very sexy, Dangerous Liaisons can be seen at Milford Haven’s Torch Theatre on Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 May. The production does not contain bad language or nudity but will contain adult innuendo which is probably why the company has given the production an age guidance of 16 years and over. Tickets may be reserved online at www.torchtheatre.co.uk or by calling the Theatre Box Office on 01646 695267. |
| The Torch Theatre web site: www.torchtheatre.co.uk |
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Friday, May 7, 2010 |
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