AN IDEAL HUSBAND

Written by Oscar Wilde
Directed by Matthew Chapman

Cast: Stuart Pearce, Anita Pipprell, Maxwell Whigham, Angela Short, Rhoda Sylvester, Lindsay Dunn, Megan Dansie, Berny Abberddan, Rose Harvey, Genevieve Venning, Brad Martin and Lindy Lecornu


“Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.”

You’re invited to the classiest soiree of the season.

When a stranger crashes the party of the upwardly mobile Sir Robert Chiltern and his wife Gertrude, threatening to expose the long-buried secret to his success, the Chilterns enter a world of blackmail, corruption, and hypocrisy as both face up to their own ideals and prejudices about the other along the way.

Meanwhile, among the fat cats, dowdies and dandies, the Chilterns’ friend Lord Goring is begrudgingly searching for a wife, and with his sights set on Robert’s sister Mabel, the stars are cast and the stage is set for Oscar Wilde’s most serious and glittering comedy of manners.

The third of his major plays, An Ideal Husband is both Wilde’s most modern and most personal. First performed in 1895, just before Wilde’s monumental and much documented fall from grace, the story of a flawed public figure facing destruction must have resonated with his own situation.

In its 115th season, this production of An Ideal Husband marks the completion of all the major Wilde works by the Adelaide Rep. With its unique blend of Melodrama and farce, like the best pop tunes from the 1980s, the production counts a perfect blend of some of Adelaide’s best comic actors, alongside some new faces sure to bring a breath of fresh air to the Arts Theatre.

This is Director Matthew Chapman’s second production for the Rep, following on from the 2020 covid season production "The Rivals” (nominee 2020/21 TASA ComiCAL award). Last year he directed Arcadia for the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild (pending 2022 TASA DramatiCAL award nominee). As an actor, Matt has appeared in productions for a number of Adelaide theatre companies, often in calf-revealing period costumes. Matt is pleased to celebrate a minor anniversary (and major achievement for the rep) after making his stage debut in their 100th anniversary production.

So, grab your fan, clutch your pearls, and make sure your dance card is filled in for June. Scandal has never been so delicious!

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