Creators: Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble
Director: Jonathan O’Boyle
Released in 1999, the film Cruel Intentions is a loose contemporary adaptation of the 1782 book Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos De Laclos, swapping out French Nobility for rich prep school kids in New York. It follows step-siblings womanising Sebastian Valmont and manipulative Kathryn Merteuil as they make a wager as to whether Sebastian can deflower virginal Annette Hargrove, along the way corrupting naive Cecile Caudwell and blackmailing jock Court Reynolds. The film was a massive hit despite (hot take alert!) not being very good. It certainly has not aged well in the intervening years.
Cruel Intentions the stage show debuted in 2015 as a jukebox musical, showcasing the songs of the 1990s. The script is almost word-for-word the film’s screenplay, with songs from that era dotted throughout. On the surface, taking an existing, flawed script and just plopping in a bunch of pop songs seems like a recipe for disaster. Fortunately for this production, thanks mainly to a talented cast, and Jonathan O’Boyle’s very smart direction, it all works… just about.
Unlike the film which is quite self-serious, this production embraces the ridiculousness of the concept and leans very heavily into it. All of the performances are broad, matching the extreme actions and reactions of the characters, and thus complimenting the source material perfectly. There is absolutely no subtlety in O’Boyle’s direction or Gary Lloyd’s choreography which compliment the script a lot more than earnestly and slavishly recreating the movie. This is taken a step even further with the addition of the songs, which are often played, at least initially, for laughs.
As the evil Kathryn, Nic Myers takes a pretty delicious role and devours it completely, vamping it up brilliantly as a character that demands a lot. Myers allows Kathryn to be funny while maintaining the bitchiness so important to make her a perfect villain, and her number towards the end of act two, reminiscent of Rose’s Turn in Gypsy, is beautifully and dramatically delivered. Will Callan is suave and charming as Sebastian, making him far more believable a lady’s man than Ryan Phillippe in the film. He displays strong vocals and a natural charisma which goes a long way to atone for the horrendous actions of his character. Lucy Carter is hilarious as the child-like Cecile: a role that seemed a little out of place in the film, but with the broad tone of this production fits perfectly, her comic abilities delivering many of the biggest laughs. As Annette, Abbie Budden nicely balances the character’s strong determination with a lovely vulnerability, all while rocking the rafters with a belting voice.
The small cast of characters and limited locations of the film really benefit this musical adaptation, with all roles including ensemble being filled by just 12 performers, and Polly Sullivan’s large fixed set requiring minimal additions to convey different locales. Nick Richings’ excellent lighting design really pops, and Chris Whybrow’s sound design overcomes the challenges of an on-stage band to allow every word to be heard and understood.
As a standalone piece of musical theatre, Cruel Intentions doesn’t quite gel. While the choice of songs are appropriate to convey the mood of the scenes in which they are placed, the lyrics are often incongruous. Meanwhile, the language and attitudes displayed are far from what we expect now, and despite hiding behind the excuse of “it was acceptable at the time”, there are more than a few lines that feel completely out of place today. Still, this production takes this imperfect material and does as much as it can with it, and for those forty-somethings who grew up on the movie and these songs, this is an absolute nostalgic blast.
Runs until 25th May 2025
