Zurich Comedy Club

An Ideal Husband - May 2012

Click to see our on-line gallery of this and other plays [opens in new window/tab]

The play, takes place within 24 hours at the London homes of Sir Robert Chiltern and Lord Goring and centres around blackmail, corruption and personal and public morality. There are two letters. One reveals that Sir Robert Chiltern, a Foreign Office minister, originally made his fortune by selling secret government information. The other is a simple appeal for help written by Sir Robert’s wife to Lord Goring, which could be interpreted as a love letter. There is also a diamond brooch.

The mysterious Mrs Cheveley, who has the first letter, accidentally drops the brooch, which is then found by Lord Goring. Mrs Cheveley’s attempts to use the first letter to blackmail Sir Robert, then both Chilterns and finally Lord Goring are ultimately foiled when Lord Goring reveals that he knows Mrs Cheveley to have stolen the brooch. Just as Lord Goring recovers the first, truly incriminating, letter, Mrs Cheveley secretly makes off with the second.

FAN REPORT
Ticketcorner provides a page on its website for comments by audiences. Go to Ticketcorner comments page.

"The long-standing and highly professional Zurich Comedy Club has just pulled off another successful performance. Director Julie-anne Smith brought together a terrific ensemble piece which played to full houses every night. No detail was overlooked - the specially designed set, the colourful costumes, the perfect wigs and makeup and the entracte music all enhanced the wonderful acting. Oscar Wildes lesser-known play, An Ideal Husband, provided a treat for Zuirch audience members of all ages and nationalities. A tale of romance, intrigue, blackmail, misunderstanding, all spoken in perfect upper-class English by the cast of Swiss, American and British thespians. Bravo!"

		DIRECTED by Julie-anne SMITH
THE EARL OF CAVERSHAM, K.G Paul BILTON	VISCOUNT GORING Marc KEMPE	SIR ROBERT CHILTERN Luke WALKER	VICOMTE DE NANJAC Martin RUSSELL
MASON Matthew MILLER	PHIPPS Tom NAMOVICH	LADY CHILTERN Ariane WILDBERGER	LADY MARKBY Valery NIGGLI
THE COUNTESS OF BASILDON Vera STUCKI	MRS. MARCHMONT Christine EUSEBIO-ELLIS	MISS MABEL CHILTERN Christina FLEISCHMANN	MRS. CHEVELEY Sylvia DAY

	BEHIND THE SCENES
Production Co-ordinator	Tiina Palojärvi
Set Design	Firman Burke and Tim Purdue
Stage Manager	Ana Alvarez Requejo
Lighting Design	Andreas Stahl
Lighting Operators	Tom Hofmaenner, Jamie Langridge
Sound Design	Terry Menard
Sound Operators	Susan De Paul, Karen Siber, Deborah Somers
Prompters	Ray Bär and Beatrice Hungerbühler
Properties	Patricia Peggs with Janet Evard, Marianne Alewine, Alexandra zu Pappenheim
Costumes	Tania Khanschassoff with Claudia Bodmer and Angela David
Wigs	Christine Eusebio-Ellis, wigs by Atop
Hair and Make-up	Maureen Grimm with Paul Day and Valentina D’Alessandro
Front of House	Claudia Wicki with Cleo Blass, Deborah Marolf and Members of the Club
Block Bookings	Tricia Tomlinson-Schmid
Box Office	Phil Margolis and Members of the Club
Title Artwork, Collateral Ads, Print Materials & Programme	Tania Khanschassoff
Production Stills	Firman Burke
Additional Photography	Michael Bushkov & Olga Bushkova, Ana Alvarez Requejo
Publicity	Paul Bilton
Press Officer	Ana Alvarez Requejo