Decadence and debauchery will be on display in Buninyong on Friday, November 10, as the town's theatre company present their adaption of a pre-revolutionary French classic.
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Buninyong-based performance group The Bard in Buninyong, typically known for their renditions of Shakespeare classics, have chosen a different source material for this year's production - the 18th century French novel of letters Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
The story revolves around two French aristocrats as they scheme to manipulate and ruin the lives of others around them.
Some readers may know the plot from 1999 film Cruel Intentions, a modern retelling of the tale.
Bard in Buninyong Artistic Director Susan Pilbeam said Les Liaisons Dangereuses, or Dangerous Liaisons in English, was perfect for fans of drama or tragedy.
"It is basically all about the decadent French aristocrats really. One of Marie Antoinette's favourite books.
"Particularly it focuses on these two who are very beautiful, very rich and very bored. They basically spend a lot of time manipulating, and ultimately destroying other people's lives for the fun of it.
"Being a duet you have one person you are relating to all of the time. The story between them is quite an arc. They start out in one place and they end up, absolutely tragically, in another place."
The performance will be a change of tack for the theatre company, who have been performing Shakespeare classics in the Buninyong Gardens every year since 2016.
Beyond a different source material, the performance will take place inside of the Buninyong Brewery, which Ms Pilbeam described as an "intimate" and "immersive" backdrop for the audience.
Stage props and decorations help audience members travel back to the era of high society when the novel was based, complete with extravagant Baroque-style furnishings.
Period-accurate music will also be performed by Cello and Guitar duo Miriam and Lyndon Kriss, playing greats such as Vivaldi, Blavet, Haydn and Bach.
"The idea is that you get the whole immersive experience of the language, the music and the look, which is very over-the-top," she said.
"The whole setting I think feels like an occasion. You are in a space, and even though it is formal in other ways it is very relaxed.
"That is what I am hoping, that people will come along and enjoy the fun of being in a very different kind of space."
Dangerous Liaisons will be performed at the Buninyong Brewery on November 10 at 7.45pm, and November 11 and 12 at 1.45pm.
All performances include a 15-minute musical preshow with complimentary wine and cheese.
To buy tickets, visit trybooking.com. Attendees may also purchase upgraded "Decadence" seating, on couches or armchairs and including complimentary chocolates.
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