Les Liaisons Dangereuses (A Guillotine Play)
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​Content Advisory

Golbanoo Setayesh as Marie-Thérèse.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses (A Guillotine Play) is not a standard adaptation. Only half the play takes place in the world of Laclos's novel, while the other half tells the horrific true story of Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, eldest daughter of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (and the only royal to survive the French Revolution).  When Marie-Thérèse was 15 years old, President Maximilien Robespierre paid a private visit to her prison cell in Temple Tower. There is no formal record of their conversation, but evidence indicates Robespierre raped the underage girl in hopes of begetting an heir: half-royal, half-revolutionary. 

Audiences attending Les Liaisons Dangereuses (A Guillotine Play) should be aware that this play depicts Robespierre's sexual assault Marie-Thérèse onstage, up to the point of his removing her skirt. Unable to cope with the trauma of this brutal attack, 15-year-old Marie-Thérèse (played by 26-year-old Golbanoo Setayesh) dissociates by imagining herself as 15-year-old Cécile from the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, who endures a sexual assault of her own, albeit under highly romanticized circumstances. Both actors involved in this violent dual-rape scene worked closely with a trained Intimacy Director, Rachel Frawley, and have been choreographed in a way that is safe for them and safe for audiences.

Additionally, audience members should be aware that this play contains: verbal and physical violence, crude language, and frank discussion and depiction of a range of sexual activities, including sexual assault, coercion, child abuse, domestic abuse, and war crimes against children. Religious themes and period-typical sexism are also explored. 

This play is R-rated. Audience members under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.