British acting favourites Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner star in 'seductive' first look at new take on classic story

The National Theatre has released a scintillating first look at their production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses starring Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner.

The Crown and Rivals stars are shown off in all their finery for the major revival which opens this evening (1 April).The show will run Monday to Saturday until 6 June before appearing in UK cinemas from 25 June as part of National Theatre Live.

Originally a novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, the play was written by Christopher Hampton in 1985, but has only been staged in London twice since.

Described as a "thrilling game of love, lies and social warfare", this new adaptation has had a refreshed script for its first ever staging at the National Theatre. The synopsis reads:

"The pen is mightier than the sword. Among the glittering salons of the super-rich, patriarchy equals power, reputation is everything – and for women, one misstep can mean ruin.

"Marquise de Merteuil, master in the art of survival, wields her influence with intelligence and control.

"Alongside the magnetic Vicomte de Valmont, they turn seduction into strategy and weaponise desire. But when their alliance collapses into rivalry, the battle between them threatens to destroy everyone in their path."

Manville stars as the Marquise de Merteuil with Turner as the Vicomte and the new images show key interactions between the pair. We see them caught up in laughter and confrontation as the go on to manipulate the characters around them.

In an interview with Vogue Turner described his character: "“I do think he has a heart. I don’t know how interesting it is to just watch an a**hole being a nasty piece of work. We can see plenty of that around. He’s not a psychopath.”

The pair will be joined by Monica Barbaro and Gabrielle Drake and the show also sees director Marianne Elliott return to the National Theatre after nine years.

The cast is completed by Ishmail Aaron, Sharif Afifi, Curtis Angus, Charlotte Avery, Nandi Bhebhe, Lucia Chocarro, Liz Ewing, Ali Goldsmith, Darragh Hand, Georges Hann, Dianté Lodge, Katie Lusby, Amy Macken, Aisha Naamani, Bryony Pennington, Cat Simmons and Hannah van der Westhuysen.

Make sure you read our Romeo & Juliet review with Sadie Sink.