Demons are forever

Internationally acclaimed actress Connie Nielsen makes her theatre debut as she takes the stage at Nørrebro Teater as the vengeful Marquise de Merteuil, opposite Christian Tafdrup as the transgressive Valmont. The production is a radical new interpretation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, directed by Jennifer Vedsted Christiansen.

In a hypersexualized society where power and sex are inseparable, this version of Farlige Forbindelser (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) spells put an immortal, bloody and brutal conflict over youth for status, desire for access, and sex for power in neon lights. Here, sexually conquering another person becomes proof of power. The loser is humiliated and the winner takes all.

All of this unfolds in a decadent universe where Rococo meets the status symbols of late capitalism. A universe that explores how we all contribute to maintaining the hierarchies we simultaneously suffer under. Laclos’ work from 1782 is revisited by playwright Marie Bjørn, who, through her distinctive artistic perspective, uncovers the eternal dynamics between desire, control and destruction in a contemporary interpretation.

In Farlige Forbindelser, the desires of five people collide in a power game set in motion by the aristocratic Merteuil. Here, love becomes a competition, the body a currency, and surrender a defeat. But soon they become entangled in a game of hierarchies and love that none of them can control.

The files are out, and now everything unravels in a tragic cascade.

The play is in Danish

Merteuil is played by Connie Nielsen, known, among other things, for her role in Gladiator (2000, 2024), where she stars opposite Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Nielsen won the Bodil Award for Best Actress for her leading role in Susanne Bier’s Brødre (2004), and most recently received the Rungstedlund Award for her performance in the TV series Drømmeren (2023). She stars opposite Christian Tafdrup, who takes on the role of Valmont. Tafdrup will appear on a theatre stage for the first time since 2017. Most recently, he has enjoyed major international success as the director of the film Speak No Evil (2022), as well as success in Denmark with En Frygtelig Kvinde (2017.

Farlige Forbindelser is directed by the acclaimed director Jennifer Vedsted Christiansen. In 2021, Christiansen received Lauritzen’s Believe In You Award. Together with Emma Sehested Høeg, she is the co-founder of the interdisciplinary studio How To Kill a Dog, which has created productions including Bambi er tilbage (2026) at Nørrebro Teater, Copenhagen and Lolita For Altid (2022) at REPUBLIQUE, Copenhagen, as well as the TV series KILLJOY(2023) on Danish television TV2. In 2023, Christiansen received the Crown Prince Couple’s Cultural Stjernedrys Award.

The production features an entirely new text by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Marie Bjørn, freely based on Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1728 epistolary novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. In 2022, Bjørn received the Reumert Award Årets Særpris for Du vil møde en anden by AKT1, Danish audio theater. She has previously been nominated for both the Reumert Årets Særpris and Årets Dramatiker for her debut production Apokalypse (2020) at Teater Momentum, Odense. Since 2022, Bjørn has received the Danish Arts Foundation’s working grant three times, as well as the foundation’s two-year career programme Den Unge Kunstneriske Elite (2024).

The production’s seductive visual universe is created by award-winning set and costume designer Petruska Miehe-Renard. In addition to being a permanent member of How To Kill a Dog, she has designed sets and costumes for productions including ALICE at Betty Nansen Teatret, Copenhagen (2023). In 2026, she won a Reumert Award for Årets Teaterproduktion for Fruen i havet, created together with Liv Helm at Husets Teater, Copenhagen and Odense Teater, Odense.

Photo: Casper Sejersen