Jessica B. Hill as the Marquise de Merteuil and Jesse Gervais as the Vicomte de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons.David Hou/Stratford Festival 2025
Title: Dangerous Liaisons
Written by: Christopher Hampton, adapted from the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Performed by: Celia Aloma, Ashley Dingwell, Sara Farb, Jesse Gervais, Jessica B. Hill, Seana McKenna, Leon Qin, Nadine Villasin, Norman Yeung
Directed by: Esther Jun
Company: Stratford Festival
Venue: Festival Theatre
City: Stratford, Ont.
Year: Runs to Oct. 25
By and large, the Stratford Festival has had a great year. Its musicals, Annie and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, have been high-energy and tuneful; its Shakespeares, give or take a leather-clad Macbeth, have been elegant and sharp. (And let’s not forget Kat Sandler’s transcendent adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, lest this critic start blubbering once more over the plucky redheaded orphan and her adventures across Avonlea.)
Keeping in mind the strength of this year’s slate of programming, it brings me no pleasure to report that the final opener of the season, Dangerous Liaisons, is a head-scratcher on a number of levels: What was director Esther Jun trying to say by opting to turn this twisted story of sex, seduction and morality into a lighthearted farce? And, indeed, why was it programmed at all?
At its best, the production is muddled and a bit boring. But at its worst, it encourages audiences to laugh at the rape of a 15-year-old.
Christopher Hampton’s script, an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s epistolary 1782 novel, revolves around a curious situationship between the Marquise de Merteuil (Jessica B. Hill) and Vicomte de Valmont (Jesse Gervais). Ex-lovers though they are, the aristocrats remain infatuated with each other, sneaking glances and gropes whenever they find themselves alone.
Soon enough, Merteuil presents Valmont with an offer rooted in revenge: If he can seduce her ex’s 15-year-old betrothed, Cécile Volange (Ashey Dingwell), she’ll sleep with him as well, and rekindle their former flame.
The story tumbles from there, a tangle of high stakes and big feelings that ultimately ends in tragedy.
Ashley Dingwell as Cécile Volange and Gervais as Valmont.David Hou/Stratford Festival 2025
It’s worth noting the play is not new to Stratford – the festival last staged it in 2010 – and audiences may well know the 1988 film, for which Hampton also wrote the screenplay.
But the rape of Cécile, cut from the movie and played so callously for laughs in Jun’s production, ought to be devastating, a symbol of the acrid gender politics of 18th-century France. In a 2016 interview with The Cut, Hampton called the scene a “pivotal” moment in the play, an inflection point that ought to let the audience know just how despicable Valmont really is. And indeed, in a production with a clearer, less cartoonish slant, that framing might work.
Unfortunately, Jun’s production sees Gervais ham up Valmont’s antics, winking at the audience even as we see him assault Cécile in real time. Gervais has repeatedly proven himself to be an excellent comic, but that talent is misused here – his trademark gleeful smiles and vocal affectations make it feel as if the production wants us to root for Valmont, flaws and all, as he commits this unspeakable act.
Dingwell as Volange, the 15-year-old whose assault is a pivotal moment in Dangerous Liaisons.David Hou/Stratford Festival 2025
And if that scene weren’t enough, its aftermath isn’t better: When Cécile goes to her chosen confidants to share what happened to her, they reprimand her for not saying “no” clearly enough, or with adequate conviction. Again, it seems we’re expected to find this exchange amusing.
Once more: Cécile is 15. And does, in fact, say “no.” Multiple times. What on earth is there to laugh about? The content itself isn’t the issue, necessarily – horrible things happen in period plays and operas all the time, of course – but Jun’s farcical framing of the material dulls its impact, resulting in a confusing theatrical experience that errs toward disturbing.
It’s a shame Dangerous Liaisons is such a misfire – it’s a waste of a starry cast who have delivered excellent performances elsewhere in the season. The ever-reliable Hill holds her own against Gervais, and in a few early scenes, the duo crackles with chemistry. Celia Aloma has a few strong scenes as Madame de Tourvel; so does Leon Qin as the Chevalier Danceny.
Visually, the production fares a little better, particularly A.W. Nadine Grant’s grand, opulent costumes, luxe gowns and waistcoats decorated with spectacular plumes. To Dangerous Liaisons’ credit, its characters’ clothes are simply gorgeous.
In her director’s note, Jun calls Dangerous Liaisons “a razor blade wrapped in silk,” and, later, “a brutal exploration of deception, power, ego and the cost of pleasure pursued without conscience.” I wish the production had honoured that interpretation of the play – that Jun had leaned much harder into the work’s emotional murk, rather than glossing over it with comedy.
For now, we’re left with a Dangerous Liaisons that speaks to this moment in time with unintended poignance – how many #MeToos have been ignored, or even ridiculed, in the past year? The past century? How many Céciles must our society denigrate before we stop accepting statutory rape as a punchline?
