Word: merteuil
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Love letters may be back in fashion--in a different form. The Abelards and Heloises, the Vicomtes de Valmont and the Marquises de Merteuil of today communicate via e-mail, the technology of the '90s, not via the post, known affectionately as snail mail...
Carefully, constructedly cool, Quartett takes the complex, bulky plot of the novel and pares it down to two actors who alternate personalities and sexes with cheerless machination in a game of sex and vengeance. Winsome Brown as the Marchioness, Merteuil, plays her role with bloodthirsty relish. Her obvious confidence and professionalism enable her to add the strain of comic self-consciousness that brings the play to life. Brown moves in tightening circles around Tom Hopkins as Valmont, the lethargic predator turned prey. Hopkins' Valmont is charming and at times strikingly perverse. On the other hand, the interaction between these...
Instead, the action is driven forward by the manipulation of voices, both onstage and off. Microphones are a favorite toy for this post-modern pair, who use them with studied playfulness. Sarah Sidman's disembodied voice as Cecile, Merteuil's niece, is an eerie relief and complement to the often static physical dynamics between Brown and Hopkins. Richard Nash's direction is at its best in his manipulation of voice and particular props, such as a book which figures in their games. The care that Nash takes with these elements helps to make up for some of the glaring gaps...
...sides, one a book-shelf, the other a safe door. It's a shame that it is so little used. Steps from the floor to the top of the structure provide the actors with the sole physical embodiment of their power duels, and when its possibilities are exhausted, Merteuil and Valmont seem immobilized...
...late 18th century France, the plot revolves around two protagonists: La Marquise de Merteuil (Alison Weller) and le Vicomte de Valmont (Tom Hughes). Love and Revenge are their favorite games. When successful conquests bolster this pride, it gets beyond their control. They sacrifice all for the preservation of this lethal trait...