The sexual gamesmanship in Christopher Hampton’s “Les Liaisons Danger-euses” has never seemed quite so viciously amoral as it does in the hands of John Malkovich.
The actor, who made a memorable villain in the 1988 film version (and recently acted the hero offstage, when he stopped a man from bleeding to death on the streets of Toronto), helmed the Théâtre de l’Atelier production that opened Tuesday at the Lincoln Center Festival. His thrilling rendition seems all the more authentic for being delivered in French, the original language of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th-century novel.
The play concerns the wicked pact between the womanizing Valmont (Yannik Landrein) and the aristocratic Marquise de Merteuil (Julie Moulier) to destroy the innocence of the virginal Cecile (Agathe Le Bourdonnec) and the virtuous Madame de Tourvel (Jina Djemba). Here, the machinations are delivered in a clinical, theatrical style signaled by the actors milling around onstage and sometimes staring stone-faced at the audience before the play begins.
As the action unfolds — amid female nudity and other sexy touches — all of the actors remain onstage, observing the proceedings like viewers in an emotional operating theater. As if to show that nothing has changed over 200 years in the war between the sexes, period styles mix with the motions of contemporary life, as characters chug from plastic water bottles and send love letters via e-mail.
It’s marvelously effective, as is having Valmont’s valet (Lazare Herson-Macarel) guide us through the proceedings by announcing the time and location of each scene and signaling transitions by loudly tapping a wooden rod.
Malkovich emphasizes the play’s devilish humor, having Valmont and his valet giddily celebrate like teenagers after every sexual conquest. But he doesn’t neglect its atmosphere of emotional desolation, vividly conveyed in Valmont’s chillingly repeated explanation to the heartbroken Madame de Tourvel that “It’s beyond my control.”
At the end of Act 1, the characters exit the stage one by one, leaving Valmont alone to brood in isolation. The haunting, beautifully composed final tableau has an almost painterly feel.
The youthful ensemble performs superbly and without histrionics. Too bad, then, that non-French speakers have to shift their attention to the rapid-fire dialogue translated in projections high overhead. But a little eyestrain is a small price to pay for the all-too-brief opportunity to see this memorable show.