Fifty Shades of Grey is the current hot novel of a sado-masochistic sexual predator and his prey, but do not think for a moment that there is anything new about this steamy tale of dominance, submission and matters of the heart. You could draw a direct line between E.L. James’ contemporary best seller and Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a similar yarn of malice and deceit that curled toes and fogged spectacles in 1782 France.
The work of fiction by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos inspired playwright Christopher Hampton’s stage adaptation in the mid-1980s, which became a sensation in London and New York. And now, although Palm Beach Dramaworks is usually drawn to more high-minded fare, it produces the drama, with all its sensual nastiness and 18th-century finery much in evidence.
At the core of Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a pair of former lovers, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, who pride themselves on their expertise at emotional manipulation. To amuse themselves, the Marquise proposes a game of seduction, daring Valmont to deflower young, susceptible, newly out of the convent Cécile de Volanges. Soon bored by the lack of a challenge, Valmont instead sets his sights on the virtuous, comely Madame de Tourvel, who had previously been warned of his caddish reputation.
Kate Hampton (no relation to Christopher) plays the Marquise with a chilly detachment, in command of the action but with an arm’s-length aloofness. She is a more than capable sparring partner for Jim Ballard’s Valmont, who is as wily as he is courtly. Ballard lets us see the devious mind in action, though he underplays some of the humor inherent in the role.
Director Lynnette Barkley sets a crisp, icy tone for the production, keeping the focus on the duel of wits between Merteuil and Valmont, but also getting first-rate support from Harriet Oser as Valmont’s regal, disapproving aunt, Katie Fabel as prim, gullible Madame de Tourvel and Tangi Colombel as Valmont’s resourceful valet.
Resident costume designer Brian O’Keefe provides sumptuous, character-rich period clothes and Victor Becker has come up with an elegant scenic plot, dominated by a central revolving stage and a steep, imposing staircase, perhaps a metaphor for the ups and downs of the characters’ fortunes.
Written in the years just prior to the French Revolution, de Laclos’s narrative is rooted in the class system, politics and mores of the time. Encountering it today, particularly in this wickedly venomous Dramaworks production, one cannot help but think that little has changed from then to now.
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St., West Palm Beach.Through March 1. $62. Call: 561-514-4042.