CRUEL INTENTIONS

This could have been something of a dangerous liaison for me. Having seen Christopher Hampton’s 1985 adaptation, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, starring at that time the inimitable Alan Rickman originating the role of the Vicomte de Valmont, Lindsay Duncan as Marquise de Merteuil, and Juliet Stevenson as Madame de Tourvel, my expectations could have been set unrealistically high. Of course this musical manifestation of the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first appeared as a film in the 1990s. I hadn’t seen it so in anticipation I sat down to watch, and laughed and laughed. Laughter of course because they find the humour in what is in fact a rather horrible tale of bullying and grooming.

Now the film of the play of the book has been revisited as a musical, reaping hits, some familiar and some less so, from the 90s. That’s a lot of mileage from that first novel! And could the familiar form of what has become known as a “Jukebox Musical” work in this case? Well the answer for me is a firm yes. The chosen songs have for the most part some narrative relevance. Okay, it may not have the gravitas or subtlety of Hampton’s play but it has far more punch than the film version with Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman and retitled Dangerous Liaisons, apparently because the Hollywood execs felt that the original title was too “high-brow” for an American audience (and might be misheard as dangerous lesbians [not inappropriate in part]).

So that’s my background, fairly thorough I hope.

Nic Myers, Abbie Budden and Will Callan. Photo: Pamela Raith

The set for the musical is a clever balance of classical and Manhattan architecture, cleverly conceived and versatile, and I have never seen slicker and faster transformations, some assisted by excellent lighting but mostly down to a well drilled company, furniture and props as expertly choreographed as the cast.

Cruel Intentions cast. Photo: Pamela Raith

Any how excellent the company is, twelve in total creating a vision that seemed to be far greater in number than that, and all of them singing and dancing with incredible energy. There’s nothing laid back about this show, the numbers are delivered with guts and the dancing with style and energy. I particularly liked the scene in Penn Station where raincoats created a sense of bustle and chaos to great effect. And the choreography throughout has a great sense of period style. Gary Lloyd conjures the period of excess with a deft hand, Polly Sullivan’s costumes and set complete the picture and Jonathan O’Boyle’s direction is sharp and to the point. The sound at the start was perhaps a little loud, some clouding of diction as a result, but it was soon sorted out.

So, earlier I used the word grooming. It’s such a poignant and disturbing topic these days and the future rise of the issue is mentioned in the script when Sebastian declares that the internet is for nerds and paedos. Dark truth that in the early 1990s we might not have seen coming.

Sebastian Valmont is played by Will Callan, sharply dressed, well groomed, in the other sense of the word, handsome, rich and entitled, a teenage sexual predator on a mission to seduce everyone in his path. And in doing so he is taking no prisoners. It’s an excellent portrayal packed with sinister overtones but equally attractive, would you fall for his charms? You bet!

Step sister Kathryn Merteuil is played with devilish attitude by Nic Myers, how she makes so unattractive a character so attractive is marvellous. Wicked contrivances are her art and she makes no bones about getting what she wants, a teenage femme fatale, old beyond her years and a voice that shook the room.

Abbie Budden plays Annette, the virgin princess (with a small p) who is the victim of Merteuil’s scheming, collateral damage in her vengeful plan. It’s a far more interesting portrayal here than in the original film and much of that is down to her songs and her powerful voice, more to work with than Reese Witherspoon for sure and much better by far.

Gabriella Williams brings a powerful representation of upper class racism to her role as Mrs Caldwell as she dismisses Ronald Clifford played by Kevin Yates, that part demanding that he displays both integrity and fallibility.

Nic Myers and Lucy Carter. Photo: Pamela Raith

 Luke Conner Hall’s Blaine Tuttle is wonderfully, outrageously camp and blissfully silly and yet… how wonderfully he manipulates the object of his desire, the ruffty-tuffty closeted Greg McConnell played with charm and energy by Joe Simmons. There’s a lot of intimate business going on in this show and it is handled with skill, saucy yes, salacious… well pretty close to the knuckle you might say, but it needs to be there and not skirted around.

And that brings me to the final lead character, and what a character she is. Cecile Caldwell is the naive brattish and spoilt girl on the brink of womanhood but still, at the start a child. This is the comedic highlight of the evening, her portrayal of sexual awakening is nothing short of brilliant, her drawn out phrasing, her physicality, her timing… brava Lucy Carter, it’s a masterclass in how to inhabit a role.

I have recently been accused of “Handing out stars like favours”, well here are a few more, well earned stars for an excellent company that delivered a fun but also thought provoking piece of entertainment.

Andrew Kay

24 June

Theatre Royal Brighton

Rating: