Mouret manipulates our sympathies effortlessly as the story zigzags its way... to its ultimately surprising and quite satisfying resolution.

Anyone who loves "Dangerous Liaisons" - in any of its iterations - should rush to cue up "Lady J," a period romance with a similarly wicked sense of comic melodrama.

"Mademoiselle de Joncquieres" takes a stealthy and slow-burn approach before fully revealing its true colors as a shrewdly choreographed roundelay of scheming, seduction and revenge in the spirit of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses."

Mouret's version is very effective, and well worth seeing. The actors are convincing and the dramatic tension sustained throughout. This is a serious and intriguing work.