An Ideal Husband

Late 19th century London is beautifully and elegantly conjured in this highly refined production of An Ideal Husband. HTC has paid meticulous attention to both sets and costuming and has created a visually sumptuous environment. The quality of the staging is very impressive and fully exploits the spacious nature of the HTC venue to create pomp and grandeur.

Careful attention is paid to the tongue in cheek tone which begins with a very inventive reminder to switch off mobile phones. The humour of the play and the continuous intrigue created by misunderstandings, misrepresentations and skeletons in the closet falling into the wrong hands is always prioritised. The staging makes the complexity of the political machinations clear and often extremely amusing.

The performance operates with clockwork timing and precision, although at times this results in a desire for greater rhythm, especially in the first half of the show. The second half is pacier and livelier, and this is largely due to the lead taken by James Antonas as Lord Arthur Goring. His affectations are delivered with a naturalness and suaveness that enable the character to leap off the pages of Wilde’s exuberant text. 

A strong performance is also provided by Elise Moorhouse as the mischievous and somewhat villainous Mrs Cheveley. The overall execution of the characters and the era clearly conveys the rigidity and affluent nature of a highly privileged London society. It would have been good to see this complemented by a more general relaxed approach to stage presence.

This production is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy Wilde’s language and an enormously faithful reproduction of the period and the culture which is being targeted with parody, satire and a sharp witty tongue.

Patricia Di Risio 

Images: (top) James Antonas (Lord Goring) and Elise Moorhouse (Mrs Cheveley) & (lower) Wayne Gleeson (Sir Robert Chiltern) and Llaaneath Poor (Lady Chiltern). Photographer: David Belton