Les Liaisons Dangereuses

About

Arnaud Denis’s stage adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses brings Choderlos de Laclos’s corrosive epistolary novel to life with clarity and bite. The production preserves the precision and force of the original language while transforming letters into immediate first‑person action—no outside narrator, only characters who speak and act. Denis highlights the story’s seductive cruelty and moral darkness, portraying figures who hunt and wound with words as much as with deeds. At its heart, the staging reveals a tragic paradox: Merteuil and Valmont love each other deeply, yet pride and ego keep them from admitting it, turning their brilliance into a weapon that destroys others and themselves. Created at the Théâtre de la Tête d’Or in Lyon and now on tour, the production has earned wide acclaim, including four Molières 2025 nominations and a Molière for Best Actress (Delphine Depardieu) in a private theatre production.