Under Heiner Müller's grip, the complex love potions of Choderlos de Laclos' 18th-century epistolary novel "Dangerous Liaisons" become a timeless battle of the sexes that knows no winners. Müller concentrates the material of the novel on the Marquise de Merteuil and her former lover Valmont. She tells him to seduce her niece, but he is more interested in the dishonour of another. As the play progresses, the gender roles change: Merteuil becomes the skilled seducer, Valmont the virginal niece. The two engage in the smashing of morals to pass the time. They would rather destroy themselves than let truthfulness triumph over cynicism. The deadly game is fought with language and rhetoric and is told with an end-time longing peculiar to the author and a surprising amount of humor.
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