[photo credit: Boston Court Pasadena]9
The screening is part of Boston Court’s National Theatre Live series, which brings productions filmed live at the National Theatre in London to a cinema screen at the venue at 70 North Mentor Avenue. According to Boston Court, the staging was adapted by Christopher Hampton from the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos and directed by Marianne Elliott.
For Pasadena audiences, it is a chance to see a current, high-profile British production without leaving the neighborhood. The National Theatre says the stage version ran in its Lyttelton Theatre from March 21 to June 6, 2026, and NT Live began its cinema broadcast June 25.
Manville plays the Marquise de Merteuil and Turner the Vicomte de Valmont, two aristocrats who turn seduction into strategy before their alliance curdles into rivalry, as the story is described. The production, which the venue describes as a new staging of Hampton’s adaptation, is set among the aristocracy of pre-revolutionary France.
Hampton first adapted Laclos’s 1782 epistolary novel for the stage in 1985, and the same source inspired the film Dangerous Liaisons. One note of continuity runs through this revival: a review in Plays International observed that Manville, who now plays the scheming Merteuil, had appeared as the young Cécile in the original Royal Shakespeare Company production.
Audiences should note the production carries content advisories. The National Theatre lists depictions of sexual assault and grooming, sexual references and a reference to baby loss, along with strong language, violence, flashing lights and haze. Listings for the London run give a running time of about three hours, including one interval, and recommend the show for ages 15 and older.
Here is what to know before going. NT Live: Les Liaisons Dangereuses screens at Boston Court Pasadena, 70 North Mentor Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106, on Thursday, July 9, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, July 11, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.; and Sunday, July 12, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are listed at approximately $20 to $45 and are available through the Boston Court box office at 626.683.6801 and online through the venue’s OvationTix page; exact pricing should be confirmed with the box office. Boston Court notes that it does not sell tickets on third-party resale platforms. The venue offers accessible seating and no-cost assisted listening devices, and it lists group discounts for parties of eight or more and rush tickets for high-school students and arts-and-entertainment union members.
For three nights, a small Pasadena house will hold a London season’s worth of scheming — the appetites Laclos set down in 1782, still recognizable among the very rich.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses (NT Live) — Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave. A newly filmed National Theatre London staging of Christopher Hampton’s classic starring Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner. July 9 (7pm), July 11 (7pm), July 12 (2pm). ~$20–45. https://bostoncourtpasadena.org/events/nt-live-les-liaisons-dangereuses
