Dangerous Liaison and Tom McCamus

[przed]

The Sweetie was kind enough to look after Ros today, so I could pop off to Stratford with a couple of mates for a day of theatre and good food.

We saw the production of Dangerous Liaisons, with Tom McCamus as the Vicomte de Valmont, and Seana McKenna as the Marquise do Merteuil.



This was the one must-see production for me this year, and it didn't disappoint. McCamus is one of my very favourite actors--I've seen him do Coriolanus, Richard III, Mack the Knife, to name a very few of his roles, and he is still my favourite Hamlet--and he excels at playing smart, complicated characters. I reckoned he'd be perfect as Valmont, and I was right. He takes the right amount of delicious pleasure at the character's erotic machinations, but also shows just a crack of vulnerability at the end, when he realizes he has actually fallen in love with the woman he's set out to seduce.

Here's a pic of McCamus, just because.


McKenna's Marquise de Merteuil was a fantastic match for him. She's an equally smart actor, and did a fine job of portraying both the Marquise's cunning, and her jealousy.

I'm only seeing one more production at Stratford this year. We're taking Ros to her first play: Peter Pan. (They're listing it as appropriate for 4-year-olds, so we're hoping she likes it.) As a bonus, McCamus is playing Captain Hook:


I think I'm going to have a hard time not rooting for the wrong guy. *g*

Comments

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a really lovely day out and great news about the play as that's a more difficult role for an actor than it might first appear to be.

As for rooting for Captain Hook... Erm... I may have done that, at least once:

(http://pics.livejournal.com/draycevixen/pic/0018h6a6/)

[przed.livejournal.com]

I might, ahem, own a copy of that version on DVD. Possibly. Possibly because of that bloke in the picture, whoever he might be. *g*

(BTW, I saw Mr. Isaacs in person at the film fest a couple of years back, and he is utterly stunning in person.)

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Snap on the film fest and *nods noddily*

It's tough to love actors who are only ever hired by film makers to play the villains... but I bravely soldier on. *g*

The funny thing is when they play characters I've been rooting against since I was a kid. Like, the Scarlet Pimpernel who I've always loved... and then MS had to play Chauvelin, didn't he?

[przed.livejournal.com]

It's tough to love actors who are only ever hired by film makers to play the villains... but I bravely soldier on. *g*

That's been my lot in life too. My favourite three actors through uni and grad school? Willem Dafoe, James Woods and Christopher Walken. Then there's the James Mason affection that dates from childhood. What can I say? I like the smart, crazy ones.

This also probably explains my propensity for dating assholes until I met the Sweetie.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Then there are my beloved crew of actors who play villains in American films but not in European ones.

I was lucky on the dating front, good survival instincts honed by being raised mostly amongst boys by wolves. *g*

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Also, YAY for the Sweetie. He always sounds like such a good bloke.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Yes. Yes, he is.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Then there are my beloved crew of actors who play villains in American films but not in European ones.

Yep. ::stares at your icon and mine::

My dating instincts were lousy, but at least I always recognized the jerks for what they were and dropped them after 3 months. ;-)

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Ohh, what a fantastic play! I'd love to see it. The movies are such delicious fun complete with everything from silly to sad. You're so lucky! Enjoy PP with the little bit.

[przed.livejournal.com]

It's a fab production of a very good play. I'm glad I got to go. (You'll have to come up for the Stratford fest some time. The quality of theatre is generally wonderful.)

I'm looking forward to Peter Pan, and hoping Ros lasts through the whole thing. Since we're going with one of her friends who has already made it through a production of The Sound of Music, we're hoping they'll encourage each other to stay.

[norfolkdumpling.livejournal.com]

Looks like a really fun day! I hope Ros enjoys Peter Pan...I'm not sure that Hook is the worst person you could root for...I've never really liked Tinkerbell much :D

[przed.livejournal.com]

Given how much her parents love theatre, I hope we can convince Ros that it's a fun thing to do.

I've rooted for worse than Hook before. Especially when Sean Bean is the villain in question. *g*

[sooguy.livejournal.com]

Love the McCamus! Don't think I've seen a bad performance from him yet.

Peter Pan sounds fun at Stratford. It's great story telling on all levels.

[przed.livejournal.com]

He is pretty uniformly fabulous. This was no exception.

Fingers crossed the Peter Pan experience goes well.