Mary Beth Peil
Confirmed to Join the Cast of
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
15-Week Limited Engagement at the Booth Theatre
Performances begin October 8, 2016 & Opening Night is October 30, 2016
Tony Award nominee Mary Beth Peil will join Tony Award winners Janet McTeer and Liev Schreiber in the Donmar Warehouse production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton, directed by the Donmar’s Artistic Director Josie Rourke.
“I am delighted that Mary Beth Peil will play Madame de Rosemonde in Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” said Josie Rourke. “Her exquisite grace is in wonderful counterpoint to the electricity between Janet and Liev. I am excited to work once again on Christopher Hampton’s great play with this wonderful group of actors.”
The production begins performances on Saturday, October 8, 2016 and will open on Sunday, October 30, 2016 at the Booth Theatre (222 W 45th St). This is a 15-week only engagement through Sunday, January 22, 2017.
In 1782, Choderlos de Laclos’ novel of sex, intrigue and betrayal in pre-revolutionary France scandalized the world. Two hundred years later, in 1985, Christopher Hampton’s stage adaptation became an award-winning sensation in London’s West End and on Broadway, followed by the Academy Award-winning film Dangerous Liaisons starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer. Josie Rourke’s acclaimed production transfers to Broadway after a sold-out engagement at London’s Donmar Warehouse which ended earlier this year and starred Janet McTeer. The production received two Olivier Award nominations for Best Revival and Best Actress for Ms. McTeer.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses will be produced on Broadway by Arielle Tepper Madover.
Janet McTeer, who will play “La Marquise de Merteuil,” earned a Tony Award for her Broadway debut in A Doll’s House and a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the Donmar’s Mary Stuart. She can currently be seen in the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Taming of the Shrew.
Liev Schreiber, who will play “Le Vicomte de Valmont,” earned a Tony Award for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross, and received a Tony nomination for his most recent Broadway appearance in A View from the Bridge. He stars in the hit Showtime series “Ray Donovan” which returns for its 4th season on Sunday, June 26.
Mary Beth Peil, who will play “Madame de Rosemonde,” last appeared on Broadway opposite Chita Rivera in the Kander and Ebb’s The Visit. She earned a Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in The King and I opposite Yul Brynner. She is also well known for her performance as Jackie Florrick on the CBS drama “The Good Wife.”
Director Josie Rourke is currently in rehearsals for The Public Theater/Donmar Warehouse co-production of Privacy. Co-conceived by James Graham and Josie Rourke, Privacy is written by James Graham and directed by Josie Rourke. She is the Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse where her recent productions include The Vote, which was broadcast live nationwide on television on the night of the 2015 UK election to an audience of over half a million and nominated for a BAFTA and City of Angels, which received the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.
Christopher Hampton earned both Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best New Play for the original London production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The play also received a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Foreign Play. Mr. Hampton won an Academy Award for his screenplay for the film adaptation, Dangerous Liaisons. He is currently represented in London with his new version of Zeller’s The Truth.
Here is some of the critical acclaim for Josie Rourke’s production at the Donmar:
“THEATRE AT ITS MOST SEDUCTIVE AND SINISTER.” (Evening Standard)
“Has there ever been a better stage adaptation of a novel than this? Josie Rourke’s revival is AN EVENING TO RICHLY SAVOUR.” (Guardian)
“HEADY AND INTOXICATING.” (Telegraph)
“A SUMPTUOUS EVENING. Josie Rourke’s production is LUSH. Janet McTeer is ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT.” (The Times of London)
“Josie Rourke’s revival is INTIMATE, STEAMY. A beautifully costumed, handsome, hothouse world, draped with shimmering silver organza, lit by flickering candles and twinkling, smoky-glassed candelabra. SEXY AND SOPHISTICATED.” (Daily Mail / Sunday)
“Marvel all over again at the BRILLIANCE OF CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON’S ADAPTATION. Josie Rourke has given us a Liaisons Dangereuses to relish: FUNNY, MOVING AND UNCOMFORTABLY PROVOCATIVE.” (Sunday Times)
Former lovers, La Marquise de Merteuil and Le Vicomte de Valmont compete in games of seduction and revenge. These merciless aristocrats toy with the hearts and reputations of innocents. Merteuil incites Valmont to corrupt the convent-educated Cecile de Volanges before her wedding night but Valmont has other designs. His target is the peerlessly virtuous and happily married Madame de Tourvel.
The creative team includes Tom Scutt (Set & Costume Designs), Mark Henderson (Lighting Design), Carolyn Downing (Sound Design), Campbell Young (Hair & Make-up Design), Michael Bruce (Original Music), Richard Ryan (Fight Director) and Arthur Pita (Movement Director). Casting is by Caparelliotis Casting (US) and Alastair Coomer CDG (UK). The Production Stage Manager is Jane Grey. General Management by 101 Productions, Ltd.