Porchlight Theatre Company Closes LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, 7/10

Porchlight Theatre Company presents a smoldering and passionate parable of intrigue, power-plays, gender roles, courtly love, brazen sexuality, and aristocratic self-interest run amok that is eerily relevant to our times. Co-directors and PTC Core Members Ann Brebner and Ken Sonkin lead a distinguished cast in new production of Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses, adapted from the 1782 novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, from which the infamous maxim, "Revenge is a dish best served cold," reportedly derives.

Preview performances are Thursday and Friday, June 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m.; opening night is Saturday, June 19, at 7:30 p.m. and features a post-performance champagne reception. Performances will continue through July 10, Thursdays-Sundays at 7:30 p.m. (no show Sunday, July 4 or Sunday, July 11; added performances Monday, June 28 and Wednesday July 7) at the Redwood Amphitheatre at the Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Ross. [Editor Note: due to construction on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. during the summer months, theatre patrons are encouraged to allow extra time. Construction updates and suggested alternate routes can be found at www.porchlight.net.]

Say co-directors Ann Brebner and Ken Sonkin, "On the surface, Les Liaisons Dangereuses may seem like a period piece about the decadence of the nobility on the eve of the French Revolution. But when held, like a mirror, up to our own times, the play offers an uncanny reflection of the dangers of the corporate greed, government corruption, and apathetic and self-interested culture that characterize current-day American civilization." The sexual libertinism and societal excess described in Choderlos de Laclos' serialized novel was, quite literally, dangerous to the lives and legacies of the participants as well as to French society as a whole. As we now know, the aristocracy described in the play, was toppled just a few years later in the bloody French Revolution.

The cast includes Porchlight company members and distinguished guest artists. Tara Blau* and Anne Darragh* will alternate in the role of La Marquise de Merteuil. Nick Sholley* as Le Vicomte de Valmont, Molly Noble* as Madame de Volanges, Kelly Elizabeth Anderson as Cécile de Volanges, Rebecca Castelli* as Madame de Tourvel, Candace Brown as Madame de Rosemonde, Thais Harris as Émilie, Erik Rhea as Le Chevalier Danceny, and Don Wood as Azolan.

Sets are designed by Ron Krempetz, costumes by Todd Roehrman** and lighting by Gabe Maxson. Properties are by Marguerite Finney, stage management by J.P. Hitesman and technical direction by Delson Junker. Dramaturge is Jesse Brownstein, TraCy Grant is production advisor and wardrobe supervision is by Cheryl Tillotson.

For more information, visit http://www.porchlight.net/