Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton (Play review)

I picked up this script after seeing the National Theatre production starring Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner. Hampton’s adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (an infamous 1782 epistolary novel), still feels dark and provocative. The original work was scandalous for its bleak and cynical treatment of sexuality, and that tension remains at the heart of both the play and the script.

On the one hand, it’s sharply funny with farcical scenes of lovers hiding behind doors, elaborate deceptions, and social manoeuvring that border on slapstick with double-entendre letters and word play. But then there’s also a deeply nihilistic view of sex, power, and emotional intimacy. The story is full of coercion, manipulation, betrayal, and abuse. I don’t think the humour fully softens that brutality, though I think there’s an argument for sincerity and love in there somewhere.

I was surprised by how frequently the play has been staged and made into films (the most famous ones being the film with Michelle Pfeiffer and Cruel Intentions – a loose adaptation). I think what has made this so popular is the tight plotting and the dramatic set pieces that are somehow familiar as well as titillating.

Many of the character dynamics feel strangely archetypal, even if you’ve never encountered the story before. You have the libertine determined to corrupt a virtuous woman, only to become emotionally entangled himself; the naïve young girl who is clearly exploited, though the text muddies questions of agency and consent. This is a world where seduction is inseparable from cruelty.

The script leaves space for interpretation: productions can push the material further into comedy, tragedy, or outright horror. That flexibility gives the play its enduring cultural resonance, even if it remains deeply troubling.

The National Theatre staging was excellent, but reading the text itself made me appreciate just how unsettling the material really is. Beneath the elegance and wit lies something vicious.

Read if you want dangerous glamour.