Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery has had to withdraw from the Donmar Warehouse’s forthcoming production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She will be replaced by The Paradise’s Elaine Cassidy.
Cassidy will take on the role of Madame de Tourvel alongside a cast including Dominic West, Janet McTeer and Una Stubbs from 11 December to 13 February.
Talking about the last minute cast change, the venue’s Artistic Director Josie Rourke, who will also direct the production, said: “We are delighted to welcome Elaine Cassidy back to the Donmar playing Madame de Tourvel. I can’t wait to work with Elaine and our fantastic company when rehearsals start on Monday, and hope to work with Michelle in the future.”
Returning to the Donmar Warehouse’s stage following her 2014 performance in Fathers And Sons, Cassidy’s theatre credits include the Hampstead Theatre’s recent production of Deluge and Les Parents Terribles at the Trafalgar Studios.
Based on Choderlos de Laclos’ controversial 1782 novel and adapted for the stage by Christopher Hampton, Les Liaisons Dangereuses charts the story of former lovers, the Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont, whose games of seduction and revenge lead to the virtuous and beautiful Madame de Tourvel becoming one of Valmont’s unfortunate targets. But as the merciless aristocrats toy with people’s hearts and reputations, their own may prove more fragile than they supposed.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses will begin its run at the Donmar Warehouse following Christopher Shinn’s university campus-set play Teddy Ferrara, which closes on 5 December.