As they star together in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the actors talk about power, Epstein and intimacy co-ordinators
“In its depiction of sex and malice, abuse and vengeance among the idle rich it is bound to summon up thoughts of Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Even the playwright admits as much: it’s not that he has added any explicit nods to Epstein Island in his tweaked new version. “But you can’t help thinking about all that when you see the play,” Hampton says later by phone. “It does explore those murky areas.””….
“Manville, 70, appeared in the original 1985 production as Cécile, who is raped by the worldly, wisecracking Valmont. Thirty at the time, she was only a few years younger than Lindsay Duncan, who played the icily manipulative Marquise de Merteuil, Valmont’s mentor and former lover. “So once I got over 45 I thought, well, that’s it, I’m never going to play that part,” Manville says. “But Marianne said, ‘I want her to be older because that adds to her pain. She not only thinks she is losing him but she thinks she is losing her sexual currency too.’””….
“Does Turner think Valmont is a rapist now? “No. I think he is coercive and manipulative, he’s got a silver tongue, but he doesn’t physically force her.” Hampton, 80, points out that the play is mostly as it was before, but he has made Cécile a savvier figure. “I didn’t want to make big political comments, I didn’t want to change recognisable characters, but I wanted to reflect what is going on today by enhancing the female roles,” he says. Meanwhile, the awful but witty Merteuil and Valmont remain oddly, discomfitingly appealing. “Oh, it’s very funny,” Manville says. “Humour is closely related to sex, or it is for me anyway. I would never be attracted to a man who doesn’t make me laugh.” She turns to Turner. “Would you?””