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An Ideal Husband
by Oscar WILDE
directed by Charles Newell
March 4 - May 3, 1998
in Rotating Repertory with The Cherry Orchard
AN IDEAL HUSBAND centers on Sir Robert Chiltern, a rich and highly respectable Victorian politician. He is adored by his wife, who considers him a paragon virtue. But is he? Enter Mrs. Cheveley, a scheming villianess eager to blackmail Sir Robert. To avoid a scandal that could destroy his marriage and his career, Sir Robert turns to his friend Lord Goring. A brilliantly farcical stand-in for Wilde himself, Goring must not only defeat the unscrupulous Mrs. Cheveley but also persuade the couple to see one another anew.
AN IDEAL HUSBAND premiered in 1895, the same year as Wilde's other comic masterpiece, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. Though no less a critic than George Bernard Shaw pronounced AN IDEAL HUSBAND the superior work, it has always been somewhat overshadowed by EARNEST. An effervescent comedy studded with glittering Wildean epigrams, AN IDEAL HUSBAND is at once taut, funny, and prodigiously smart; while behind Wilde's shimmering, satirical wit lurks a profound observation of the illusions we use to deceive ourselves. |
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