An Ideal Husband review: “punchlines well planted”
By Janina Arndt
The most important aspect about any play by Oscar Wilde is the sharp wit and irony with which society is criticised so lavishly in his style. An Ideal Husband, in particular, also encompasses more serious conflicts besides some humorous view on typical vices in other people, and it is therefore a challenge to change the tone with taste between the lighter scenes and the more troubled ones. The latest production by Durham University Classical Theatre created a fair balance between the two opposites by peppering the performance with a delightful range of ironic expressions or gestures on the one hand and desperately delivered lines of misery on the other.
The one character who oscillates between the comic and the serious is Lord Goring. There is the personality of a rather idle, debonair bachelor, but there also is his role as a loyal friend. Lord Goring finds himself having to help his best friend Sir Robert Chiltern, who is being blackmailed by the evil Mrs Cheveley with letters which would expose the dishonourable start of his career. As Wilde’s irony will have it, Sir Robert’s wife, of all people, has the strongest moral principles in the world. Lord Goring himself has less serious views about humanity, which makes him the key figure in restoring sense to his friends’ lives.
It was down to Ioannis Karellis’s excellent portrayal of Lord Goring that the humour did not compromise the serious conversations. While his Lord Goring never failed to hit the mark with his witty lines, there was also a great deal of emphasis on his heart-felt benevolence towards the Chilterns.
Sir Robert was portrayed by Harry Scholes as rather helpless and desperate in the clutches of Mrs Cheveley’s scheme, but the strength in his portrayal lay in the illustration of his character’s fascination with power. In comparison, Mrs Cheveley was hardly given any moment of weakness. Nina Stevens gave a sparklingly chilling performance in the role, delivering her lines in the sharpest and poshest manner possible.
Lily Kattenhorn-Black’s Lady Chiltern shared the dominance over her husband with Mrs Cheveley, and thus made for an interesting polarisation in the character constellation, while her sister Mabel, played by Yasmin Rufo, was a light-hearted but equally determined distraction from the serious conflict in her family.
Finally, Ryan Yao-Smith in the role of Lord Goring’s father, Lord Caversham, was an absolute delight with his plump accent, his hand quivering on the walking stick and the ever so grumpy look on his face.
Another aspect the audience could delight in during this production was the wonderfully detailed set of a Victorian interior. The striped wallpaper, the flowers on the table, the picturesque fireplace and the floral curtains framed the action as if in a painted picture, or a window into Oscar Wilde’s time.
Towards the end of the production, however, it became very clear that it was merely a window into a very different time from ours. When Lord Goring said, ‘A man’s life is of more value than a woman’s,’ murmurs of disapproval were distinguishable throughout the auditorium, and were repeated when more sexist lines followed.
The question whether Wilde intended these lines to be read ironically will remain unsolved, and on the first night of DUCT’s production, it seemed the production did not interpret it ironically, but the fact that it caused disapproval in its modern-day audience might prove the confrontation with this view an effective means of addressing the issue. Nonetheless, it would have been interesting to see a more original interpretation of the scene containing these views, and what they feed into the message of the play other than reconciliation.
Overall, An Ideal Husband by DUCT was entertaining to watch with the play’s punchlines well planted. The main characters earned their sympathy well, and the serious issues were dealt with in a way which allowed different views to grow. This period production retains its original satirical tone and is equally enjoyable for people who are already acquainted with Wilde’s work, as well as those who are not.
Photograph: DUCT Production Team
