25/06/26

Dominion Cinema, Edinburgh

The latest offering from NT Live has arrived in cinemas and there’s only one venue in Edinburgh swish enough to do it justice. We book a reclining sofa at The Dominion and settle down, prepared to be blown away – and we most certainly are. This stunning adaptation of Christopher Hampton’s 1985 play (based upon the 1782 novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos) incorporates Hampton’s wonderfully witty and unflinchingly brutal dialogue punctuated by stirring dance sequences where everyone – including the leads – hoofs up a storm. Marianne Elliott directs the huge cast with consummate skill, while choreographer Tom Jackson Greaves has the lavishly costumed performers prowling, spinning and leaping around Rosanna Vize’s extraordinary set, where scores of mirrored doorways reflect the action like a kaleidoscope of intrigue.

The Marquise de Merteuil  (Lesley Manville) and the Vicomte de Valmont (Aidan Turner) are old acquaintances. Once lovers, they are now notorious philanderers, who spend their time seducing, exploiting and humiliating virtually everyone they encounter, taking delight in the chaos they create. It’s clear that Valmont still carries a torch for Merteuil so, when she makes a wager with him, he quickly accepts the challenge. She will spend one more night with him, but only if he can manage to seduce two women: the virtuous wife, Madame de Tourval (Monica Barbaro), and Cécile de Volanges (Hannah van der Westhuysen), an innocent young girl, currently infatuated with her music tutor.

Valmont sets to work, mercilessly exploiting both women without a thought for the destruction he is wreaking – and little realising that Merteuil has elaborate plans of her own…

All the leads play their roles with absolute conviction, Turner relishing his characterisation of a brutish, swaggering hedonist without a single qualm about the cruelty he inflicts on his targets. Manville matches his arrogance with a sly, smiling assurance that tells us she has his measure and knows exactly how to handle him. (It’s fascinating to note that back in 1985, Manville played Cécile de Volanges on Broadway.)

Barbaro, meanwhile, is utterly compelling as a God-fearing woman, struggling to resist her inner demons and utterly destroyed when they finally overcome her. Van der Westhuysen also excels as an ingénue, blissfully unaware that she is destined to inherit all the guiles of those who have used her so cruelly.

But the ensemble are much more than bit-players: every performer on the stage gives the show their all. If the first half is sensational, the second – as all the carefully-layered plot threads come hurtling to their inescapable conclusion – is utterly thrilling.

A seat for this show in London’s West End, would cost you hundreds of pounds, but here’s your opportunity to make your own dangerous liaison closer to home at a more affordable price.

5 stars

Philip Caveney