A dangerous debut to 2015-16 STC season

The Sudbury Theatre Centre will open its 2015-16 Season, Decades of Desire & Deception, with wit, scandal, and sword fights when Christopher Hampton’s English adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses takes to the stage beginning Oct. 15.

Based on the classic French novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (or Dangerous Liaisons, as it’s known to anglophones) is a tale of manipulation played as the ultimate game by the one percent in pre-revolution France.

The Vicomte de Valmont (Mac Fyfe) and his female rival and former lover, the Marquise de Merteuil (Kerry Ann Doherty) hatch a heartless game of revenge: the two make a bet using sex as a weapon against the virtuous Madame de Tourvel (Sudbury’s Meredith Zwicker) and young covent girl, Cecile (Kendra Williams), who has fallen in love with her music tutor, the Chavalier Danceny (Sudburian at-large Jake McNeil). Also featured are Linda Pyrstawska as Cecile’s mother Volanges and Sudbury’s Andrea Senior as the courtesan Emilie.

This savage comedy of sensual decadence, corruption, and manipulation ultimately proves that when one woman strikes at the heart of another, she seldom misses.

Though the play transports us to 1780s Paris, the themes it engages us in resonate eerily well today, a characteristic of the text that Artistic Executive Director Caleb Marshall, who helms the production, says was key to its inclusion in the 15|16 Season.

“Theatre should transport us, entertain us, engage us in dialogue and provoke us to see the world in a different light,” said Marshall. “A play like Les Liaisons Dangereuses is perfect for our time. When examining current issues we face in society, looking through the lens of another time can be even more visceral because it removes us from the here and now and begs the larger reflective question of how much have we really changed?”

Marshall, along with Set and Costume Designer Scott Penner and Lighting Designer Siobhan Sleath, have created a world true to the time period of theplay but with some glints of modernity throughout, aided by Sound Designer Ben Whiteman.

“I wanted to be true to the plays time but also give the audience a sense thatb this still could be happening today and may still be happening in the future,” said Marshall.

The production also sees the debut of STC Opening Acts, with the world premiere of Golden Girl by Sudbury’s Vicki Gilhula based on the life of Mary Violette Martin, a prospector who made a fortune in the gold mines of Kirkland Lake, opening for the mainstage production. Michelle Fisk does double-duty playing Rosemonde in Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Mary in Golden Girl, while Jamie Cavanagh plays Azolan in the mainstage and Lawson in the Opening Act.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses opened by Golden Girl is on stage at STC Oct. 15 to 31, with 7:30 p.m. performances Tuesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. performances on Sunday. The opening night on Oct. 16 features a pre-show conversation with the creative team and all matinee performances feature a
tallback with Marshall and the acting company.

Tickets are $26.75 for the Oct. 15 preview performance, $50 for the Oct. 16 opening night, and $35.50 for adults, $31 for seniors, and $21.25 for those under 30 for all other performances. $12 student tickets are available for all performances save opening night, and a pay-what-you-can matinee will be offered on Oct. 18.

Tickets are on sale now at the STC Box Office in person at 170 Shaughnessy Street in Downtown Sudbury, by calling 705 674 8381, or online at sudburytheatre.ca.

Public performances of Les Liaisons Dangereuses contain brief nudity, sword fights, and scandal. Student matinee performances are free of nudity but do contain mature subject matter.

2015-16 Season:

Mainstage:

LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
Oct. 15 to 31, 2015