Design by www.typecastdesign.co.uk
at the Welsh Church Hall
881 High Road Leytonstone
E11 1HR
Fri 23 July 2010, 8pm
Sat 24 July 2010, 3pm and 8pm
Fri 30 July 2010, 8pm
Sat 31 July 2010, 3pm and 8pm
"One's past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged."
Lady Gertrude Chiltern is a woman of high and inflexible moral standards, secure in the love of her "ideal husband" Robert, who is that rarest of things, a politician with principles, seemingly destined for high office. But Sir Robert Chiltern's perfect image hides a guilty secret and unscrupulous Laura Cheveley has the evidence. Can Sir Robert keep both the love of his wife and his reputation, or will it all come crashing down?
We are so familiar with the wit of Oscar Wilde that it is easy to forget the serious issues that underlie much of his work. Written in 1895, "An Ideal Husband" was considered by Wilde to be his best play, and its themes of the worship of wealth and standards in political life are as relevant today as ever. And the character of Lord Goring is one of Wilde's greatest creations - a supremely "trivial" and witty fop who proves far wiser than the flawed Robert, idealistic Gertrude, or clever Mrs Cheveley.
"Nobody is incapable of doing a foolish thing. Nobody is incapable of doing a wrong thing. . . Life cannot be understood without much charity, life cannot be lived without much charity. It is love, and not German philosophy, that is the true explanation of this world, whatever may be the explanation of the next."
