By Helen Musa

“Sexy-disturbing” is how director Lainie Hart describes Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel, coming up at Canberra Rep Theatre.

Her cast spans the generations, with veteran Ros Engeldow returning to the Rep stage as Madame de Rosemonde, the elderly, wise and kind-hearted aunt of the Vicomte de Valmont, “probably the wisest character in the play,” as Hart tells me when we catch up.

The production stars husband-and-wife duo Jordan Best as the Marquise de Merteuil and Jim Adamik as the Vicomte de Valmont, the manipulative former lovers whose immoral machinations drive the drama.

“They’re apex predators, highly successful, kindred spirits,” Hart says. “Two peas in a pod and deeply attracted to one another.”

Casting a married couple, she says, is “a great privilege because they are so comfortable with one another, and there’s a lot we can do with that.”

That sense of trust is particularly important in staging what is widely regarded as an amoral play. Hart has engaged intimacy co-ordinator Jill Young to help create a safe, playful environment for the several bedroom scenes, ensuring they are carefully and collaboratively choreographed.

The story’s reputation precedes it. The epistolary novel on which Hampton based the play was banned when it first appeared in the late 18th century, largely because it presents two monstrous yet compelling characters, figures so seductive that audiences may find themselves drawn to them.

This reputation nearly caused issues during auditions, with some younger actors questioning whether the central characters, arguably the “heroes”, were simply too reprehensible and should be cancelled.

Hart countered with a broader perspective: “Is the play condoning such behaviour, or is it a cautionary tale?” 

She points out that the story is set in the late 1780s, on the brink of the French Revolution, when such figures would ultimately face their downfall. Hampton himself has stated: “This behaviour must come to an end.”

Hart believes these signals are embedded in the structure of the play. It begins in summer, during the Age of Enlightenment, when Paris is alive with creativity, scientific progress and champagne-fuelled excess. 

However, as the narrative unfolds, both the seasons and the moral climate darken, culminating on New Year’s Eve, when the two arch-conspirators become enemies and their world begins to collapse.

She sees clear contemporary parallels as this house of cards falls and its narcissistic, blinkered characters face a bleak future.

Still, Hart is quick to emphasise theatre’s role in presenting difficult stories rather than prescribing moral lessons, acknowledging that some scenes may be overtly titillating for some audiences.

“As entertainment, it moves and amuses, yet to be socially responsible we are not making light of the immorality,” she says.

And while Jim Adamik is best known for comic roles, Hart notes that Valmont demands both comic and dramatic range, as well as a capacity for menace. Audiences may recall his performance as Salieri in Amadeus at Rep a few years ago.

“Jim is working so hard – he’s in 17 of the 18 scenes – so it’s a real challenge for him to show both the dark and the light,” she says.

Hart has assembled a line-up of well-known Rep identities in her creative team, with Russell Brown co-ordinating the set designed by young artist Kayla Ciceran, costumes by Helen Drum, lighting by Nathan Sciberras and sound design by Paris Sharkie, who has also composed music to suggest the movement from Parisian salon to country estate.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Canberra Rep Theatre, April 23-May 9.