As the lights dim in the Max Bell Theatre, I find myself immediately transported to England in the late 1800s. A group of young socialites, clothed in beautiful Victorian-era costumes and spouting hilariously self-absorbed dialogue, are gathered in the lavish home of respected politician Sir Robert Chiltern. They are soon disrupted by an unexpected visitor.

The decadently clad Mrs. Cheveley — a former schoolmate of Sir Chiltern’s loving wife, Lady Gertrude Chiltern — enters and stands like a beacon in a sea of beige gowns and personalities. She arouses immediate suspicion from Lady Chiltern, her sister-in-law Mabel and family friend, Lord Goring. The delightfully brash Mrs. Cheveley immediately proposes to blackmail Sir Chiltern into supporting a fraudulent Argentine canal building scheme. Mrs. Cheveley holds proof that he profited by selling cabinet secrets regarding a similar canal project years before.

Her little scheme immediately disrupts the Chiltern’s comfortable life, forcing Lady Chiltern to question her ability to forgive her husband’s past transgressions and straining their loving relationship. Though Lady Chiltern at first tries to remain blissfully ignorant of her husband’s involvement in shady politics, an evening tea party with Mrs. Cheveley ends in a shouting match between the two ladies in which Sir Chiltern’s past is revealed.

When she first hears the news, Lady Chiltern can’t understand how her husband’s political ambition could drive him to sell government secrets. She held him on a pedestal, but with his past exposed she quickly knocks him down and finds herself questioning her love for him. Director Marti Maraden explains, “[she] has an unrealistic view of what human beings can be, and she’s rigorous in holding him to a very high standard.”

Lady Chiltern is the most excruciatingly dull character, yet she faces an important dilemma that we will all likely face: can she forgive her husband’s past and build a new relationship on a foundation of full disclosure? Or will she continue to punish him?

Oscar Wilde penned An Ideal Husband in 1895, during a tumultuous time in his life when the question of forgiveness was increasingly important. In 1891, he started an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, which led to the breakup of Wilde’s marriage. In April 1895, Lord Douglas’s father, the Marquis of Queensbury, accused Wilde of homosexuality. Wilde sued and began a series of court proceedings in an attempt to salvage his reputation, but he was unsuccessful. Wilde was arrested and sentenced to two years hard labour for gross indecency.

An Ideal Husband is deliciously funny, not just as a picture of English aristocracy in the 1800s, but as a realistic look at humanity, love and relationships. The comical characters are ridiculous parodies that, on some level, everyone can relate to. We can all be conceited, unforgiving, overly ambitious and self-serving. The cast doesn’t miss a beat, infusing their lines with style and charisma. You can’t help but adore each character, including the selfish redhead, Mrs. Cheveley.