NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - Sex. Subterfuge. Social decay.
Throw powdered wigs, gorgeous dresses, and rapier wit into the mix -- not to mention a spectacular sword fight -- and it’s not hard to see why the play Les Liaisons Dangereuses has managed to continuously seduce new audiences ever since it premiered on Broadway nearly four decades ago.
Christopher Hampton’s darkly comedic play – first staged on Broadway in 1987 -- was based on Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ epistolary novel which skewered the corruption and depravity of the nobility.
Published in 1782 just a few years prior to the French Revolution, Liaisons has been adapted into no less than a dozen films and TV productions as well as a ballet and an opera.
Now it’s finally coming to The Schoolhouse Theater in North Salem.
The oldest equity nonprofit professional theater in Westchester County is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, an achievement in and of itself but one that’s even more remarkable considering that it survived the pandemic – albeit online – while other venerable companies succumbed.
Liaisons is the second in a three-play season that started with the deeply moving Satchmo at the Waldorf and will wrap up with P.G. Wodehouse’s madcap comedy Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense.
Currently in rehearsals with a nine-member cast under the guidance of the theater’s artistic director, Owen Thompson, it opens on Sept. 5 and runs through Sept. 21.
Performances are Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sunday, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The plot focuses on the machinations of two aristocrats and former lovers, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, who deploy wit and charm to exploit others, including the virtuous Madame de Tourvel and the naive and innocent Cécile Volanges.
Halston Media recently asked Thompson why this particular play had been chosen.
Believe it or not, Thompson said, both he and the theater’s producing director, Bram Lewis, actually thought of it independently.
While riding the train together from the city one day, the two had been pitching each other ideas for plays to do when Lewis hinted at one that he thought was a “little crazy” and maybe “too big” and “too expensive” for the 99-seat venue.
“Are you by any chance talking about Liaisons!?” blurted Thompson who was just about to suggest the same thing.
“That was almost miraculous, like it was meant to be,” he recalled.
Something’s that’s so funny and yet so tragic feels apropos considering the current state of the world, they both agreed.
“A play about rich people behaving badly, just destroying the lives of others for fun, seems pretty relevant at this time,” said Thompson.
Good to Know
The Schoolhouse Theater is located at 3 Owens Road, Croton Falls (North Salem), N.Y.
For more information visit www.theschoolhousetheater.org or call (914) 473-7111.
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