Review: DANGEROUS LIAISONS at Kanata Theatre

Kanata Theatre opened its 56th season this week with Dangerous Liaisons, a steamy historical play set in pre-Revolutionary France, written by Christopher Hampton and directed here by Sarah Hegger. The play is based upon a novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, entitled Les Liaisons Dangereuses, published in 1782. Some audience members may also recall the 1988 film adaptation, featuring an all-star cast, including Glen Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer. In Hampton’s play, former lovers, La Marquise de Merteuil (Megan LeMarquand) and Le Vicomte de Valmont (Stavros Sakiadis), conspire to conquest, seduce, and even assault individuals they desire or want to use as pawns for revenge against their foes. La Marquise and Le Vicompte treat everyone around them as disposable playthings, without realizing that actions invariably have consequences. With its themes of morality, lust, betrayal, and vengeance, Dangerous Liaisons is unusual in that its primary characters are less sympathetic than its secondary players. The audience feels more compassion for the innocent and naïve Cecile Volanges (Ava Gustine, in her acting debut), the sincerely smitten Presidente de Tourvel (the talented Lindsey Keene), and the foppish Chevalier Danceny (Thomas Jestin) as they are each used, abused, and secretly mocked by their tormentors disguised as concerned friends.

LeMarquand and Sakiadis perform their roles with vigour; LeMarquand's enthusiasm for her Machiavellian role makes her utterly captivating to watch on stage. Although her role is limited in comparison to the other supporting cast, Sumeyra Ulas shines brightly as Emilie, a courtesan who exudes confidence and sensuality.

Although the storyline is intriguing, the play takes a while to get going. There is limited plot movement until about halfway through Act One. The second half is better paced, and the ending is splendidly staged (Tony Walker), with excellent use of accent lighting (Dave Magladry).

The overall stage design is slightly awkward; the story calls for scenes within multiple residences, necessitating a near-constant movement of limited set pieces, which depending on their arrangement, are meant to depict a different home. Since the furniture arrangement by itself is not unique enough to tell each setting apart, the theatre uses projections on side stage panels to indicate each setting. Although this is helpful, it is also a little distracting. A split stage with different sections for each residence may have alleviated some of the confusion and allowed for faster and more fluid scene changes.

That being said, Hegger uses the scene changes to highlight the Chorus, who underscore the main themes through their gestures, interactions, and the use of various props, although this is not always self-evident. It should also be noted that the staging of the bedroom scenes is ingenious.

Overall, Dangerous Liaisons is a good production that requires the audience to be patient at the beginning, but once the play picks up the pace, the rest flows reasonably well and the cast is talented enough to carry such a dialogue-heavy play. Dangerous Liaisons is a solid choice to open Kanata Theatre’s new season.

Dangerous Liaisons is on stage through November 16th at the Ron Maslin Playhouse in Kanata. Click here for more information or click the link below to buy tickets.

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