Reviewed
by Will Stackman
For
the month of June, the Wellesley Summer Theatre, a professional company now in
its eighth year at the College, has revived Oscar Wilde's surprisingly cogent
social/political satire "An Ideal Husband" . Moviegoers will remember
the hit British film in 1999. Fewer will have seen the successful London
engagement which transferred to Broadway several seasons ago. Boston theatre
goers may have seen the Lyric Stage's successful--somewhat shortened--version
here a decade ago. Helmed by Andrea Kennedy, who's risen in the ranks of WST
since 2001 to become Associate Director, this current production tackles the
whole four acts of wit, intrigue, and social commentary in Wilde's most serious
comedy, one with surprising echoes of his own future misfortunes.
At
the center of this comedy of political and social intrigue is unscrupulous and
alluring Mrs. Cheveley, played by IRNE winner Alicia Kahn, one of the company's founding
members back for her annual appearance. Opposite Kahn once again is Derek
Stone Nelson as
Lord Goring, a wealthy idler, central to the machinations of Wilde's convoluted
plot. Her target however is upstanding Sir Robert Chiltern, M.P., played by Shelley
Bolman, who Mrs.
Cheveley's returned from the continent to blackmail into supporting a canal
building scheme in Argentina. Sir Robert's wife Gertrude, played by recent
Brandeis MFA Angie Jepson, is drawn into the turmoil, though Wellesley student Kelly
Galvin, playing
her sister Mabel, the object of Lord Arthur's rather diffident courtship,
remains above the fray. Both Nelson and Bolman are part of Theatre Espresso, a
theatre-in-education troupe and have appeared for various other local
professional companies.
WST
is doing this three hour show with a baker's dozen players. Senior company
member Ed Peed
is back to play Lord Caversham, Arthur's old school father, while his wife Charlotte
Peed is Mrs.
Cheveley's talkative friend, Lady Markby. Neither character has much good to
say about their absent spouses. Veteran actress Lisa Foley appears as aging Lady Marchmont,
while Wellesley grad Victoria George is her catty friend Lady Basildon. All four were seen at
Wellesley this winter in "Under Milk Wood, " as was Marc Harpin who plays the Chiltern's butler,
Mason. Peripetatic local actor John Davin provides the same service for Lord Arthur as his
man Phipps. Luis Negron doubles as Vicomte de Nanjac in Act One, and returns as Arthur's
footman, Harold, in Act Three, while Dan Bolton is elegant Mr. Montford in Act
One, and Mason's assistant James at other times. Among their varied credits,
both Negron and Bolton have recently appeared for the Wheelock Family Theatre,
but are new to this company, while Davin was seen here last season--and at
Wheelock as well.
WST's
sense of ensemble helps hold the show together, even through Wilde's extended
witty patches. Costumer Nancy Stevenson provides Edwardian finery for these denizens of
the upper class as effective as the ragged country wear she came up with for
"Under Milk Wood." Moreover, the cast, many of whom have played in similar
period clothing here before, carries off the fin de siecle look with panache.
Designer Ken Loewit has created a formal set of three linked arches in mauve tones which
would have pleased Oscar. Elegant furniture and a few potted palms complete the
decor, which is shifted by the staff for each act. As usual Loewit's lighting
is integral to his design, illuminating place and time. The incidental music is
mostly Viennese, perhaps suggesting Mrs. Cheveley's previous haunts. University
companies have kept such classics on the boards over the years, and will
probably continue to add breadth to local theatrical offerings as more
commercial operations look for smaller cast, less complicated productions. The
difference at WST is that younger actors work with seasoned professionals eager
to play such vintage roles.
Director
Kennedy, following the lead of Nora Hussey, WST's award-winning Artistic
Director, has paid attention to the details of behavior which make a period
piece come to life. The Chiltern's moral dilemma would not be possible in
today's more situational times, though it's clear that Wilde, the expatriate
Irishman, had few illusions about the honesty and ambitions of politicians of
his time. His analysis of what brings certain men and women together is
moreover fully insightful, and is perhaps more clearly visible under more
formal rules which governed personal interaction a hundred years ago--at least
in upper class England. "An Ideal Husband" hasn't been produced as
much as the perennial--and basically harmless--"The Importance of Being
Earnest," also written in 1895. Its characters have very real if
occasionally humorous flaws and must learn to live with them--and more
importantly, those of their mates. One wonders what a sequel showing the
marriage of Lord Arthur to the much younger Mabel Chiltern might have been
like, had Wilde's own life situation not turned so disastrous by 1897. At any
rate, this script, plus "Lady Windemere's Fan" and "A Woman of
No Importance" seem to be finding their place in the repertoire, despite
their length and the need to listen to what the characters are saying.