Oscar Wilde’s 1985 play An Ideal Husband centres on government minister Sir Robert Chiltern, who has a successful career and a loving wife. But all this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed. Seeking help, Sir Robert turns to his friend Lord Goring, an apparently idle philanderer and the despair of his family. For the next 48 hours all their lives will be turned upside down.

An Ideal Husband was last performed in London in 1996 directed by Peter Hall. Lindsay Posner now revives this witty and stylish critique of social morality with a cast that includes Alexander Hanson (A Little Night Music, The Sound Of Music) as Sir Robert and his real-life wife Samantha Bond (Donkeys’ Years, TV’s Outnumbered) as Mrs Cheveley, perfoming together on stage for the first time. They are joined by West End regulars Rachael Stirling and Elliott Cowan.

For more about An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville theatre read the First Night Feature.