Review: Sidesplitting THE BOYS OF ST. MATTHEW'S PRESENT LES LIAISONES DANGEREUSES

After last year's uproarious The Boys of St. Matthew's Present Tartuffe, Epic Theatre Company's boys are back in town with THE BOYS OF ST MATTHEW'S PRESENT LES LIAISONES DANGEREUSES. For those who may be unfamiliar with the premise--the boys of St. Matthew's are a pack of Catholic school boys with a penchant for performing raunchy theatre, despite being told by their head of school, Father Frank, that they are not allowed to. The result is a play-within-a-play jammed with jokes and visual gags that will leave audiences gasping for air between guffaws.

Les Liaisones Dangereuses is the story of Valmont and Merteuil (called Maya in this production), and their game to to seduce the virtuous Madame de Tourvel for sport, and pair up the innocent Cecile with Chevalier Danceny (renamed Danny) for nefarious purposes down the road. This story is probably best known from the teen film Cruel Intentions, which is referenced a few times, but it has never been as funny as it is when the Boys of St. Matthew's take the reins, try to decipher French names on the fly and occasionally attempt terrible French accents. As the performers in this play are all Catholic schoolboys, there is the added hilarity of men playing women, occasionally in feminine costume.

In particular, this play serves as a vehicle for one of Michael Shallcross's best performances ever. Last year, in Tartuffe, he won audience's hearts with his gripping performance as Madame Pernelle, this year, he takes on his greatest role: Madame de Tourval. Madame de Tourval is the epitome of delicate, feminine grace, which Shallcross captures perfectly with a querulous falsetto, but also the delicate movements and flounces of a high school boy pretending to be a woman of breeding. It is a daunting task to be the most hilarious performance in a play that is already sidesplitting, but Shallcross embraces his role as Madame de Tourval so earnestly and thoughtfully that you just can't take your eyes off him, and at one point, I actually believed he was about to swoon. This is the kind of comedic performance that hits all the right notes, and is complemented perfectly by the rest of the cast.

In particular, Matthew Gorgone as Valmont, is an excellent juxtaposition to Shallcross's incredibly feminine performance. Gorgone is every inch the roguish charmer as he manipulates all the other characters to suit his whims. He is able to carry the action of the play without taking away from the other actor's performances, and he manages to remain intriguing even playing opposite some true scene-stealing like Aaron Blanck's turn as Emilie the Whore, complete with a pink nightie.

This is a production with no weak links, and it's pure, naughty fun. Austin Venditelli's performance as the dopey Cecile perfectly recalls Selma Blair's turn in Cruel Intentions, which makes it all the more funny. The mindtrip alone of watching men pretending to be Catholic schoolboys pretending to put on a French play creates enough humor, but the script is also full of subtle and not subtle jokes that keep catching the viewer unawares. There are many more callbacks to the setup of this play, i.e. the Catholic schoolboy setup than there were in Tartuffe, and the casual insertion of them is unexpected and hilarious every time. This may be a play that is a bit tricky to describe, but it is so fun to watch, and makes perfect sense when you see it.

The Boys of St. Matthew's Presents Les Liaisones Dangereuses runs Friday and Saturday nights from August 5th - 20th at Mixed Magic Theatre, 560 Mineral Spring Ave. Pawtucket RI. Run time is 70 minutes. Tickets available on Mixed Magic's website at mmtri.com