michelle schusterman

“Oh, I love London society! It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just what society should be.”

Fans of Irish playwright Oscar Wilde would recognize that quote as one of his as an instant – even if the play in which it appears isn’t his most popular. An Ideal Husband is filled with lines both hilarious and insightful, but this particular quote, in my opinion, completely captures Wilde’s ability to appeal to his upper-class Victorian audience while simultaneously poking fun at them.

And as soon as the play begins, you’re one of them. You thought you were sitting in the Taproot Theatre in Greenwood, didn’t you? But the moment the lights brighten on the set’s backdrop, an enormous, distorted 18th century painting – the moment the first ladies take the stage, gowned, glittering and gorgeous – you cannot possibly anywhere but at a highly fashionable dinner party in 1895.

The plot is just as relevant today as it was well over a century ago. A successful politician has a not-so-small blemish in his past. His wife believes him good – perfect, in fact. His career is on the brink of destruction when a conniving woman attempts to blackmail him.

In this case, Robert Chiltern is our threatened politician, played with intense emotion by Ryan Childers. Candace Vance performs the role of his adoring wife, Lady Chiltern, with the perfect balance of idol-worship – enough so that you believe her and sympathize with her, not so much that she irritates you.

However, she irritates the diamond brooch right off of Mrs. Cheveley, the devilish, seductive, and manipulative former lover of the baron to whom Sir Chiltern foolishly passed on a political secret years ago, in the form of a letter – a letter now in her possession. Nikki Visel is brilliant as Mrs. Chevely; near the end, you’re torn between wanting to hiss when she takes the stage, yet hoping she never exits.

All of the characters sparkle, including the fabulously self-absorbed Mabel Chiltern (Anne Kennedy Brady), the decidedly anti-feminist-but-well-meaning Lady Markby (Pam Nolte) and Lord Caversham, a man too old-fashioned even for the 1800s, performed to grumbly perfection by Nolan Palmer.

Their story is tied together by a dandy. Flippant, carefree, lighthearted – Lord Goring appears first to be the comic relief of the tale, with his quick, off-the-cuff remarks and hilarious observations. If it’s true that Wilde himself is a character in this play, then undoubtedly he is Goring.

But at Taproot, Aaron Lamb plays the dandy, and he does so with the exact balance of whimsy and worry necessary. Goring is friends with the Chilterns, has his own past with Mrs. Cheveley, and just might want a future with Mabel, and as the story progresses his juggling act increases in difficulty, to hilarious effect.

An Ideal Husband begins with light laughs and the first act ends on a serious, dramatic note. The second act is as entertaining as theatre gets – at times it’s difficult to hear the characters due to the belly-laughs and guffaws coming from the crowd. One could not ask for a more elegant evening out.

An Ideal Husband is playing at the Taproot Theatre in Greenwood, WA through October 22nd, 2011. Purchase your tickets online, or call 206.781.9707 to make a reservation.