The Rolls-Royce of English comedies, Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband brings an act of political sin into the heart of the English home, playing as part of Classic Spring’s year-long celebration of Wilde.

In An Ideal Husband, an ambitious government minister, Sir Robert Chiltern, is on an assured smooth ascent to the top. Until Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning proof of his previous financial chicanery, that is.

An Ideal Husband is Wilde’s sharp and witty exploration of the corruption, blackmail and honour that ensues when political sin enters the heart of the English home.

Jonathan Church, Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Bath Summer Season, has been confirmed to direct this exciting new production. His previous directing credits include the acclaimed Singin’ In The Rain (Chichester, West End) and The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui (Chichester, West End).

Real-life father and son, Edward and Freddie Fox, will play fictional father and son in the show, while the brilliant Frances Barber plays Mrs. Cheveley. The production also stars Nathaniel Parker, Sally Bretton and Susan Hampshire.

Classic Spring is a new theatre company, formed by Dominic Dromgoole (former Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre) to celebrate the bold and ground breaking work of proscenium playwrights in the architecture for which they wrote. Launched with a flourish, Classic Spring’s Oscar Wilde Season promises to cast new light on Wilde’s ground-breaking work, showing how more than a century on, he still strikes to the heart of social scandal.

An Ideal Husband follows Wildean classics A Woman Of No Importance, Lady Windermere’s Fan and De Profundis in the season.

Looking for a laugh in the capital city? Learn more about London comedies.