Macon Kimbrough Directs LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES for Nashville's Way Off Broadway Productions

Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Christopher Hampton's acclaimed 1985 play based on the 1782 novel of the same name by Pierre Cholderlos de Laclos - opens as the latest offering from Nashville's Way Off Broadway Productions, running May 10-June 2 at Music Valley Event Center.

Directed by Macon Kimbrough, the production stars Barrett Thomas, Cat Arnold, Angela Gimlin, Barbara Hartman, Megan Blevins, Janice Wilbanks Denson, Steph Twomey, Braden Wahl, Daniel Morgan and Hunter Tomsett.

The play's setting is France in the late 18th century - before the revolution - when a fiercely competitive battle is happening between the Marquise de Merteuil (Arnold) and the Vicomte de Valmont (Thomas), romantic rivals who use sex as a weapon no matter the cost, while reveling in their conniving and ultimately devastating games. The tenor of the battle changes, however, with the arrival of the pious Madame de Tourvel (Gimlin) who upends the machinations and manipulations.

Lindsay Duncan and Alan Rickman led the cast for the 1987 Broadway production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, where it was nominated for the Tony Award for best play. Subsequently, the play was adapted for a critically acclaimed film version the following year, which starred Glenn Close and John Malkovich (and a young Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman). The film - entitled Dangerous Liaisons - was nominated for seven Oscars, winning three (for best adapted screenplay, best costume design and best production design).

The play has twice been revived on Broadway for limited engagements: in 2008 and 2016.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses was last presented onstage in Nashville during Circle Players' 1992-93 season, starring Kaul Bluestone, Tommy Kohl, Harrison Williams, Melissa Carelli, Linda Speir, Liz Kalota and Judy Jackson

"Les Liaisons Dangereuses is captivating because it shows the best and worst of human impulses and the damage that hurt people can do to one another," says Barrett Thomas, who portrays Valmont.

"The play delves into the extremes of what people will do to both discover and destroy love. The characters are too complex to be reduced to simply good or bad. The play instead shows gradually lightening and darkening shades of grey, presenting some characters that evolve towards enlightenment and others who fester, too wounded to emerge from the bitter disappointments of life."

The mission of Way Off Broadway Productions is to "bring thought-provoking, original, and lesser known works to the stage that not only inspire change but perpetuates the importance of live art in a digital age."

Les Liaisons Dangereuses opens May 10 and runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening through June 2. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. for Friday and Saturday night performances (doors will open at 7 p.m.), with Sunday performances will be at 6 p.m. (with doors opening at 5:30 p.m.). Tickets are $10 each and are available online at www.wobnash.org, or at the door prior to each performance. All shows are presented at Music Valley Event Center, 2416 Music Valley Drive, Suite 150, in Nashville near the Gaylord Opryland resort and convention center.

photo by Larry McGrath

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