Show f. f f An Ideal Husband plays at Pioneer Theater By JoSelle Contributing Writer Insider trading Blackmail Political Corruption Scandal Reminiscent of politics Well at least politics And politics is everything in Pioneer Theater Company's production tion of An Ideal Husband one of Oscar Wildes Wilde's most famous come come- dies The play revolves around Sir Robert Chiltern a cabinet member with a past As a young man he sold secrets about the Suez Canal stock to toan toan toan an interested buyer three days before the British government purchased the stock That action made Chiltern a fortune and enabled him to marry a woman previously above him in social class Eighteen years later Chiltern is confronted with his past mistake A beautiful and mysterious woman acquired a letter revealing his position position position tion in the scandal She threatens to expose him unless he publicly supports supports supports sup sup- ports her interests in a corrupt canal project in Argentina After his wife discovers the scandal scandal scandal scan scan- dal Chiltern is faced with a dilemma ma the salvation of his reputation or his marriage What follows next is a funny and a H r t 5 r if 1 if J if Ii ii v c fi f c M Ma a 6 N j 1 1 R I I 4 M z lo a l y x M d' d zI z S k a. WW j 1 f t ff Ui irv Yo A 4 7 tM 1 a f A 0 i Y J 7 n W v r df r t. t w c w h it P r 45 r i ff a j. j i Y 2 i Y y Zi p S rS' rS i is g x 3 Y Yr r iii w Iii y i f rM z x ri v FW y ti IJ f d df f r. r 6 if lf i t f N r 1 j Ir J d. d zo 1 J d. d r B f Jt ff f i t f Ml N r f Courtesy of Pioneer Theatre Company Ezra Barnes Leslie Hendrix and Kathleen McCall often poignant play about honesty forgiveness and the redeeming power of love This production of An Ideal Husband was backed by a group of actors who would have made Wilde himself proud Ezra Barnes and Kathleen McCall are well-cast well as the luckless Chiltern and his honest wife H a r I i p pi y x Mir wf f f W I 1 tit r I d L. L Courtesy of Pioneer Theatre Company Dominic Hawksley and Holly Cate Gate Barnes' Barnes Chiltern is a flawed but kind kindman kindman man who nevertheless lacks the courage to face his past mistake His soft often nervous vocal inflections evoke his the inherent weaknesses of his character McCall is his solid contrast a strong woman who puts too much faith in her husbands husband's honesty Their loving embraces and tender dialogue make for some of the most touching scenes in the play Leslie Hendrix makes for a stunning stunning stunning stun stun- ning Mrs Cheveley Chiltern's blackmailer Everything about u M Hendrix's character from her rich drawling voice to her haughty gestures gestures gestures tures suggest ruthlessness She is 4 the perfect and thus is T 1 given some of the plays play's most witty lines Her timing and delivery ti which are vital in a Wilde play are nearly flawless However Mrs Cheveley has her opposite as well He can be found in inthe inthe inthe the character of Lord Goring played by Dominic Hawksley who performed performed performed per per- formed the same role on Broadway in 1996 Hawksley is wonderfully suave as the lazy but hearted good-hearted aristocrat The Act III scene between him and Mrs Cheveley is one of the Continued on page 7 a Ideal ea Continued from page 6 most funny in the performance Aside from solid performances An Ideal Husband also benefits from a creative set The oak wood and pastel furnishings of late Victorian salons is simply gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous gor gor- to look at and fascinating to watch In order to accommodate fast elaborate scene changes the theet set et is placed on a rotating stage a laLes la laLes laLes Les As in all of Wildes Wilde's society plays the dialogue dialogue dia- dia logue ogue comes across as the real star In n the course of the evening the audience is treated to a host of LI I memorable lines Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike Questions are never indiscreet Answers sometimes are Such verbal comedy is the secret of Wildes Wilde's success Lines such as these are what keeps the audience laughing for days after the he play has ended An Ideal Husband is a play which addresses such complex themes hemes as political corruption the lust for power and the communication communication communication cation gap between the sexes I highly recommend it to anyone interested in an intriguing and different different dif- dif ferent erent night at the theater Solid performances a stunning set and I gorgeous costumes make this Ideal Husband well in a word ideal |