Malkovich Bringing a Modernized \'Dangerous Liaisons\' to Washington

Richard Termine for The New York Times John Malkovich, seen here in a 2011 production of “The Infernal Comedy,” is directing “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” for the stage.

Evidently it wasn't enough for John Malkovich to manipulate the lives of the Marquise de Merteuil, Cécile de Volanges and Madame de Tourvel for his own amusement in “Dangerous Liaisons” - now he has to direct the action of everyone in that story. And the Shakespeare Theater Company is giving him the opportunity: the Washington-based theater company said it would present a new stage production of “Les Liaisons Dangereus es,” the Christopher Hampton play adapted from the Choderlos de Laclos novel, directed by Mr. Malkovich, the acclaimed actor who played the Vicomte de Valmont in Stephen Frears‘s 1988 film version of “Dangerous Liaisons.”

Shakespeare Theater Company said that this production of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” first presented at the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Paris, would be performed in French with English supertitles, and has some updates from the story's original 17th-century setting. In a news release the theater company said that “the correspondences that ensnare and unravel the characters in the play have been transposed to modern day texting and messaging on cell phones and tablets.” (“So too,” it added, “have the costumes been updated to a mix of period pieces and modern day garb.”)

Michael Kahn, the artistic director of Shakespeare Theater Company, said in a statement: “This is a very new and fresh and revelatory look at the play. Joh n Malkovich's direction of it was true and yet radical; this is his own wonderful collaborative interpretation with a fine French cast.” The production will be presented at its Lansburgh Theater from Dec. 6 through 9.

Mr. Malkovich starred with Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer and then-newcomer Uma Thurman in Mr. Frears's 1988 film of “Dangerous Liaisons”; another film version of the novel, titled “Valmont” and starring Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly and Fairuza Balk was released the following year. A different contemporary take on the “Dangerous Liaisons” story was released in 1999 - just before cell phones and texting were all the rage - called “Cruel Intentions” and starring Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair.