Stage

An Ideal Husbanddir Keaton McGruder15 – 19 NovemberOld Fire StationAn Ideal Husband, Wilde’s well-known tale of fin de siecle high society, intrigue, blackmail and flirtation is given a sumptuous setting in Keaton McGruder’s new production.Lavish costumes and luxurious, ornamental period furniture transform the OFS studio into an environment in which the Magdalen alumnus himself might have felt at home. While exploringthemes of marital honesty and fidelity, the play is ultimately a meditationon the need for forgiveness and the acceptance of human faults, all couched in characteristic Wildean wit.Lord Goring, one of the questionably ideal husbands of the title, is played by Adam Perchard. His interesting interpretationof the role plays up a frivolous tetchiness, which is perhaps at odds with the “perfectly good terms with the world” Wilde seems to suggest. Neverthelesshis superior yet affable manner grows on one, and the characterization brings out multiple layers of irony from the excuse of a nervous disposition he uses when speaking to his father, Lord Caversham. In turn, Guy Westwood as the burly patriarch has a smug smile to kill for, his conservative self-satisfaction blended with the mild incomprehensionof the Old School which seeps out in the expression of his eyes. Antonia Lloyd, playing Mabel Chiltern, has an equal talent for facial expression, which is matched by her colourful voice and delivery. The interpretation of the role is slightly unusual, giving more weight to a character often portrayed as a witty but essentially lighthearted, frolicsome girl. All the same, she is pitched as more of a match for Goring’s self-centred hedonism, and it works. Charlotte Cox delivers a fine performance as the scheming Mrs Chevely, the red-haired villain of the piece. Her adversary, Lady Chiltern, is given a marvellous arch affectedness by Anouchka Goldman, though her delivery risks coming across as stilted at times. Similarly, while Luke Parker pulls off the erring husband, with Sir Robert Chiltern one finds oneself squeaming slightly at the sugary righteousness of the reformed man.It is always a danger that a preoccupationwith design masks concentration on dramatic action, but McGruder achieves a healthy balance. The show promises a feast for the eye for Oscar the aesthete, while the justice done by the actors to their roles’ exquisite paradoxesand affectations should satisfy Wilde the writer.ARCHIVE: 5th week MT 2005