Les Liaisons Dangereuses

November 26–December 23

Les Liaisons Dangereuses
By Christopher Hampton
Directed by Hana S. Sharif
From the novel by Choderlos de Laclos

A SCANDALOUS TALE OF LOVE AND BETRAYAL

Two French aristocrats, Marquise de Merteuil and her ex-lover, the Vicomte de Valmont, challenge each other to seduce unsuspecting innocents in this story of revenge, debauchery, and hidden motives. Set just before the French Revolution, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) is a glimpse into the lives of beautiful people poised to denigrate and control everyone around them, including each other. But when one of them actually falls in love, the real betrayals unfold.

This tale of revenge and betrayal focuses strongly on sex, sexual themes, and adult situations throughout. This production includes simulated sexual violence and nudity.

“What shocks even now is the sight of two French aristocrats using sex as an instrument of revenge.”—The Guardian

Les Liaisons Dangereuses will be our sneak peek back into the building. The Pearlstone Theater will be the only space open to the public until our 2017 grand opening.

Approximate runtime is 2 hours and 20 minutes, including a 15 minute intermission.

View Program

Learn More

A Masterful Game of Chess: An interview with BCS Associate Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif

Made possible by

DLA Piper KPMG

Related Events

Media

Cast

Aaron Bartz*
Azolan

Paul Deo Jr.*
Le Chevalier Danceny

Suzzanne Douglas*
La Marquise de Merteuil

Noelle Franco*
Cécile Volanges

Brent Harris*
Le Vicomte de Valmont

Carine Montbertrand*
Madame de Volanges

Elizabeth Shepherd*
Madame de Rosemonde

Georgia Warner*
Émilie

Gillian Williams
La Présidente de Tourvel

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Broadway/Off Broadway—Pearl Theatre: Richard III; The Actors Company Theatre: Long Island Sound; Promenade Theatre: Tryst. Tours—The Screwtape Letters, The Lion King (Scar). Regional—Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey: Exit the King, The Guardsman, The Alchemist, Henry IV, To Kill A Mockingbird, Timon of Athens; Portland Center Stage: Twelfth Night, The Beard of Avon (Drammy Award for Outstanding Leading Actor); Philadelphia Theatre Company: Orson’s Shadow (Barrymore Award nomination); American Repertory Theatre: Ajax (IRNE Award nomination); Pittsburgh Public Theatre: L’Hotel; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Present Laughter, Much Ado About Nothing, Dr. Faustus; Denver Center Theatre Co.: Measure for Measure, Amadeus, Noises Off ; Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C.: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Julius Caesar, The Winter’s Tale; Actors Theatre of Louisville: Heartbreak House; Seattle Repertory Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Syracuse Stage: Macbeth, Dracula. Film/TV—Out of the Box, Guiding Light.

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Off-Broadway—The Flying Machine’s FRANKENSTEIN at Soho Rep, Classical Theatre of Harlem, two seasons with The Acting Company (Lady Macbeth, Margaret in Richard III). Regional—Hartford Stage (Private Lives dir. Darko Tresnjak), Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alley (Fool, world premiere by Theresa Rebeck), Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, nearby UDREP (seven seasons), Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Acclaim Award, Emilia in Othello), Pioneer Theatre, Capital Rep, and more. Audiobooks—over 70, mostly for Recorded Books (“Earphones Award,” American Library Association’s “Selected Audio,” “Notable Recording”). Upcoming—Her original solo play, Seven Devils and a French Nun, was developed with a grant from Amherst College and performs in NYC this January. Education—MFA, The University of Delaware. Professional—Faculty at Stella Adler Studio of Acting, neutral and Commedia dell’Arte mask. carinemontbertrand.com

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses. London—West End: Inherit the Wind, War and Peace. Broadway—Conduct Unbecoming. Festivals—Stratford Festival (Cordelia, Gertrude, Queen Katherine), Shaw Festival (Eliza Doolittle), and regional theatres all over England and the USA. Recent credits—The Royal Family (Fanny Cavendish), Driving Miss Daisy (Daisy Werthan), The Gin Game (Fonsia Dorsey), Coriolanus (Volumnia), Great Expectations (Miss Havisham), Pygmalion (Mrs. Higging), Humble Boy (Flora Humle). Other favorite roles include Blanche in Streetcar Named Desire, Elsa Tabori in My Mother’s Courage, Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard, and Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret. Selected TV—The Winter’s Tale (Hermione, PBS Emmy nomination), several BBC Masterpiece Theatre series, All My Children, Law and Order SVU, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, Shades of Black (Mrs. Thatcher), JFK: The Restless Years. Selected Film—The Tomb of Ligeia, Damien: Omen 2, Hellboats, Criminal Law, Desire, Amelia. elizabethshepherdactor.com

Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Regional—Mark Taper Forum: Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike (dir. David Hyde Pierce); John Drew at Guild Hall: Equus (w/ Alec Baldwin), Moby Dick Rehearsed (w/ Peter Boyle), The Cripple of Inishmaan; Pioneer Theatre Co.: Of Mice and Men (dir. Mary B. Robinson); Bay Street: Of Mice and Men (again), The Diary of Anne Frank; Northern Stage: The Crucible. Film—Romance in the Digital Age, Gottlieb, Bridge and Tunnel, Soft Voice, Narcissism, Fish (w/ Martha Plimpton, dir. David Eigenberg), Inside Out: Portraits of Children (Hollywood Discovery Award), Deb’s House (director/producer). Georgia has also been featured in many concerts and staged readings, comedic web shorts, and commercials, and performs regularly with her NYC improv team, Beef Child. www.GeorgiaWarner.com

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Regional—Seattle Rep/Arizona Theatre Company: Venus in Fur; Studio Theatre: Belleville; Trinity Rep: Cabaret; Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol (4 years); Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre: Hamlet, BOOM. Film/TV—The Knick, The Good Wife, Self Storage, A Dream of Flying. Other— Assistant Director: Fiasco Theater’s Cymbeline (TFANA); Co-Executive Producer: Some Freaks (Best Narrative Feature, Portland Film Festival). Education—MFA: Brown University/Trinity Rep Graduate Acting Program; BA: Sarah Lawrence College. Awards— 2011 Shakespeare’s Globe International Actors’ Fellowship; Brown University Graduate Teaching Fellow.

Creative Team

Hana S. Sharif
Director

Michael Carnahan
Scenic Designer

Fabio Toblini
Costume Designer

Matthew Richards
Lighting Designer

Nathan Roberts
Original Music and Sound Design

Charles Coes
Original Music and Sound Design

Sordelet Ink/Rick Sordelet
Fight Director

Leigh Wilson Smiley
Voice and Speech Coach

Gavin Witt
Dramaturg

Brandon Rashad Butts
Assistant Director

Pat McCorkle
Casting

Megan Smith*
Stage Manager

Jeremy J. Phillips
Assistant Stage Manager

Baltimore Center Stage Associate Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif is a director, playwright, and producer. She served as Associate Artistic Director, Director of New Play Development, and Artistic Producer at Hartford Stage; recently as Program Manager of the ArtsEmerson Ambassador Program; and as Developmental Producer/Tour Manager of Progress Theatre’s musical The Burnin’. Hana also served as co-founder and Artistic Director of Nasir Productions, which brings theater to underserved communities. Her directing credits include: Baltimore Center Stage: The Christians, Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Pride & Prejudice (DCArts: Best Director/Best New Play); Regional: Sense & Sensibility, The Whipping Man, Gem of the Ocean (six CCC nominations), Gee’s Bend (CCC Award Best Ensemble, two nominations), Next Stop Africa, Cassie, The Drum, and IFdentity. Hana has directed numerous developmental workshops, including Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s The Chat and Chew Supper Club, Janine Nabers’ A Swell in the Ground, and Marcus Gardley’s The House That Will Not Stand. Her plays include All the Women I Used to Be, The Rise and Fall of Day, and The Sprott Cycle Trilogy. Hana is the recipient of the 2009–10 Aetna New Voices Fellowship and Theatre Communications Group (TCG) New Generations Fellowship. She serves on the board of directors for the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance and the Sprott Foundation.

Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Detroit ‘67. Off-Broadway—Atlantic Theater Company: Skeleton Crew; 59E59: I and You; Second Stage: The Happiest Song Plays Last; Signature Theatre: The Piano Lesson, The First Breeze of Summer; Life Could Be A Dream, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Three Mo’ Tenors, Pygmalion, Howie the Rookie, Brando. Tours—Cheers, Live On Stage; A Christmas Story The Musical. Regional—credits include Arena Stage, American Conservatory Theater, McCarter Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, Two River Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Laguna Playhouse, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Northlight Theatre, Signature Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse, Arsht Center, Musical Theatre West, San Jose Repertory, Center Rep. Associate scenic designer credits include: Broadway—Allegiance, The River, Peter and The Starcatcher, ANN: The Ann Richards Play, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Importance of Being Earnest, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, All About Me, White Christmas, Curtains. michaelcarnahandesign.com.

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Triumph of Love (Assistant Designer w/ Catherine Zuber). Recent credits include—Guthrie Theater: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, My Fair Lady (both directed by Joe Dowling); Hartford Stage and The Old Globe Theater (Sand Diego): Kiss me Kate; Hartford Stage: Hamlet; Santa Fe Opera: L’Impresario and Le Rossignol. Broadway—Romeo and Juliet (2013, starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad). Off-Broadway—Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Batboy the Musical, Freckleface Strawberry, and The Divine Sister. Regional—Old Globe Theatre, Hartford Stage, Alley Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, American Players Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company (MI), Ford’s and Studio Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals. Opera—Wexford Opera Festival (IE), St Louis Opera Theater, Nationale Reisopera (NL), Landestheater (AU), Gotham Chamber Opera and Portland Opera. Awards—2015 Craig Noel Award nomination, 2015 Connecticut Critics Circle Award nomination, 2012 Connecticut Critics Circle Award; 2008 Irene Sharaff Young Master Award; 2001 Lucille Lortel Nomination. fabiotoblini.com

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Secret Garden, The Price, Hay Fever. Broadway—Ann. Off-Broadway—Atlantic Theater Company, Brooklyn Academy of Music, MCC Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, The Play Company, Playwrights Horizons, Primary Stages, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Second Stage Theatre. Regional—Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Ford’s Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Long Wharf Theatre, The Old Globe, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Westport Country Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Yale Repertory Theatre. Education—Yale School of Drama.

Baltimore Center Stage: Fun Home, Animal Farm, The Christians, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Off Broadway: WP Theatre: Natural Shocks; TFANA: The Servant of Two Masters, The Acting Company: Julius Caesar, Macbeth; The Playwrights Realm: Crane Story, Dramatis Personae; HERE: Olives and Blood. Regional: Oregon Shakespeare Festival: The Way the Mountain Moved, Sense and Sensibility; The Old Globe: Tokyo Fish Story; Ford’s Theatre: The Widow Lincoln, Our Town; Yale Repertory Theatre: Assassins, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Servant of Two Masters; Hartford Stage: Twelfth Night, The Tempest; Long Wharf Theatre: It’s a Wonderful Life. Other: designs and builds musical instruments, with a special emphasis on flutes and hurdy-gurdies. Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama. Professional: Lecturer, Theatre Studies, Yale University.

Rick and his son, Christian Kelly-Sordelet, are the creators of Sordelet Ink. Baltimore Center Stage: Shakespeare in Love, Jazz, The White Snake, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Broadway—72 shows including The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Eclipsed. National Tours—Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables. International—53 productions including Tarzan, Aida, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Ben Hur Live (Rome and European tour). Opera—The Met Opera: Cyrano(w/ Placido Domingo), Don Carlo(dir. Nicholas Hytner); The Royal Opera House; La Scalia (Milan). Film—The Game Plan, Dan in Real Life, Brave New Jersey, LIV, Hamlet. TV—CBS: Guiding Light (Chief Stunt Coordinator for 12 years); Kevin Can Wait. Instructor—Yale School of Drama. Awards—Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence from the Lucille Lortel Foundation; Jeff Award for Outstanding Fight Director for Romeo and Juliet at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Author—Buried Treasure, Choices. sordeletink.com

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Marley . Leigh is the Director of the School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland where she teaches voice, acting, and Shakespeare. Smiley has worked as a Dialect and Voice Director and Coach at Ford’s Theatre, Arena Stage, Center Stage, Round House Theatre, Cirque du Soleil, Folger Shakespeare, Everyman, and Signature and continues to develop her internet Visual Accent and Dialect Archive. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.

Director of Dramaturgy and Associate Director Gavin Witt came to Baltimore Center Stage in 2003, after nearly 15 years in Chicago as an actor, director, dramaturg, translator, and teacher—and co-founder of the classically based greasy joan & co theater. Among his translations and adaptations are a half-dozen Shakespeare plays, including a Jeff-nominated version of Pericles and the BCS production of As You Like It; Jeff-nominated translations of Beaumarchais’ The Barber of Seville and Ionesco’s Macbett; and the BCS adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance. A graduate of Yale and the University of Chicago, he is currently on the Humanities faculty at Peabody Conservatory, having previously taught at the University of Chicago, DePaul, and Towson; has served on the advisory boards of several theaters; and spent more than a decade as a regional vice president of LMDA, the national association of dramaturgs, before recently joining its board.

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses., Marley , Pride and Prejudice, X’s and O’s, 4000 Miles, After the Revolution, Amadeus. Regional—Director: Silver Spring Stage: Animals Out of Paper, Nu Sass: Left/Right, Source Theatre: Manus Dei, Allergy; Shafer Street Playhouse: Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, The Little Dog Laughed, Poof!. Film—Imaginerapy. Upcoming—Gene Frankel Theatre: Between Us, Iron Crow Theatre: Bootycandy. Brandon is an Associate Artist at Baltimore Center Stage, SDC Observer, and Directing Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club. Education—Virginia Commonwealth University

Baltimore Center Stage: A Wonder in My Soul, King of the Yees, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, SOUL The Stax Musical, Mobile Unit Twelfth Night, Animal Farm, Skeleton Crew, Lookingglass Alice, The Christians, Jazz, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Detroit ’67, As You Like It, Pride and Prejudice, Marley, One Night in Miami…, Amadeus, Wild with Happy, Twelfth Night, A Civil War Christmas. Broadway—Amazing Grace, On the Town, End of the Rainbow, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus, She Loves Me, Blood Brothers, A Few Good Men, etc. Off-Broadway—Clever Little Lies, Dr. Ruth, Stalking the Bogeyman, Freud’s Last Session, Tribes, Our Town, Almost Maine and Driving Miss Daisy. Over 50 regional theaters—Guthrie, George Street Theatre, Connecticut Rep, Pittsburgh Public, Barrington Stage. Over 60 films—Senior Moment, Year by the Sea, Child of Grace, Premium Rush, Ghost Town, Secret Window, Tony and Tina’s Wedding, The Thomas Crown Affair, The 13th Warrior, Madeline, Die Hard III, School Ties. TV/Web—Planned Parenthood series Talkin’ About, Twisted, Sesame Street, Californication (Emmy nom), Max Bickford, Hack, Strangers with Candy, Barbershop, Chappelle’s Show. mccorklecasting.com

Baltimore Center Stage: Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Off-Broadway—New York Theatre Workshop: Fetch Clay, Make Man, Red Dog Howls; Vineyard Theatre: Arlington, The North Pool, The Scottsboro Boys, The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, American Fiesta, Mary Rose, The Internationalist; Roundabout Theater Company: Look Back in Anger, Ordinary Days, Distracted, Entertaining Mr. Sloane; Second Stage: Good Boys and True; Signature Theatre: Book of Days. Regional—Westport Country Playhouse: What the Butler Saw, The Invisible Hand, Art & Red (in Rep) The Liar, Of Mice and Men, David Copperfield, Finian’s Rainbow; New York Stage and Film: Rain, Found, The Nightingale; Bard SummerScape: Love in the Wars (World Premiere); The Guthrie: The Scottsboro Boys. Ms. Smith is a Founding Member of Blue Roses Productions. Proud member of Actors’ Equity since 1999.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

In the Press

Download Press Release

For all other press related information please go to our Press Room

Reviews

“[Suzzanne Douglas and Brent Harris] give standout performances, while dynamic production choices create an air of danger without sacrificing any allure.”— Baltimore City Paper

“Center Stage effectively balances the light and dark elements of the piece. And the richly outfitted cast (Fabio Toblini designed the costumes) glides through Michael Carnahan's elegant, flexible set.”— The Baltimore Sun

“THOUGHT PROVOKING AND ENTERTAINING. [Director] Hana S. Sharif… brought out the very best in this supremely talented and beautiful cast—a perfect mix of seasoned professionals and bright, new talent. While the actors captivate the audience the moment they step on the stage, the artistic team has outdone themselves.”— Maryland Theatre Guide

“Suzzanne Douglas as Merteuil is an elegant, voracious vision in jewel-toned couture. Handsome, strong, seductive, and as physically impressive out of his finery as he is in it, Harris changes characters and covers his tracks with chameleon-like speed and expertise.”— TheatreBloom

“An immersive experience… [Suzzanne Douglas] is a powerful force on the stage.”— DC Metro Theater Arts

“JUST WHAT YOU NEED, SERVED UP WITH CLASS AND SPIRIT.”— BROADWAYWORLD.COM

“⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️”— DC METRO THEATER ARTS

In the News

12.14.16: Baltimore City Paper's Review of Center Stage's 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses'
12.09.16: BroadwayWorld.com—'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' at Center Stage Inaugurates the 2016-17 Season
12.09.16: The Baltimore Sun—Center Stage offers handsome production of 'Liaisons'
12.09.16: MD Theatre Guide—‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ at Center Stage
12.12.16: DC Theatre Scene—'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' at Center Stage (review)

Learn More

Related Events

Media

Cast

Creative Team

In the Press

Reviews

In the News

Email Signup
Join Our Email List

Follow Us

Learn More

Share on

Related Events

Media

Cast

Creative Team

In the Press

Reviews

In the News