The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is getting better and better – tackling bigger, stronger plays and meeting all the challenges.
Dangerous Liaisons, for which Giles Davies came back to Cincinnati, is another powerful play, stunning in its viciousness and in the depths of its love. Corinne Mohlenhoff and Giles are at the heart of this production, as La Marquise de Merteuil and le Vicomte de Valmont, tangled in and loving each other and their joint planned cruelties.
The romps with the naive Cecile and the courtesan Emilie provide much amusement for the Marquise and the Vicomte. The long-planned triumph over La Presidente de Tourvel, superbly played by Kelly Mengelkoch, begins to strain their bond, as le Vicomte is himself coming undone over Madame Tourvel.
Viciousness and violence takes over, with La Marquise as the spider in the center of her web. And as the dust settles, all returns to the banal – as the French Revolution begins to build to its own climax.
An unsettling play – which is a good thing!