Oscar Wilde's much loved play, An Ideal Husband has extended its run at The Vaudeville Theatre by an additional week until Saturday 26th February 2011. An Ideal Husband is directed by Lindsay Posner and stars Samantha Bond, Elliot Cowan, Alexander Hanson and Rachael Stirling.
Sir Robert Chiltern (Alexander Hanson) is a successful Government minister, well-off and with a loving wife (Rachael Stirling). All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley (Samantha Bond) appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed. Sir Robert turns for help to his friend Lord Goring (Elliot Cowan), 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, written in 1895, is a stylish critique of politicians and social morality, portrayed with tremendous humour and elegant style. Last performed on the London stage in Peter Hall's acclaimed 1996 production, An Ideal Husband soon after transferred to Broadway and has since completed various UK tours. In 1999 the play was made into a film starring Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore.
Samantha Bond is best known for her role as ‘Miss Moneypenny' in the James Bond films starring Pierce Brosnan. She has appeared in many television series, including the ITV drama-comedy Distant Shores, Outnumbered (BBC), Mansfield Park, Emma, Rumpole of the Bailey and Agatha Christie's Poirot. On stage, Bond starred opposite Dame Judi Dench in David Hare's award-winning play Amy's View at the National Theatre, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Recent West End stage roles include Michael Frayn's Donkey's Years (Comedy Theatre), Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (Duke of York's Theatre).
Elliot Cowan played the title role in Lucy Bailey's production of Macbeth at The Globe earlier this year and the role of Stanley Kowalski in the acclaimed version of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar Warehouse in 2009. Other stage credits include Michael Grandage's Frost/Nixon (Donmar & West End) and Don Carlos (Sheffield Crucible & West End). Cowan's film credits include The Golden Compass, Happy Go Lucky and Alexander. He is also a familiar face from television having recently appeared in The Fixer (Kudos), Blood and Oil (BBC) and Lost in Austen with Jemima Rooper.
Alexander Hanson most recently starred in Sondheim's A Little Night Music (West End, Broadway) for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for ‘Best Actor in a Musical'. Other credits include Marguerite (Theatre Royal Haymarket) for which he was also nominated for an Olivier Award; ‘Captain Georg Von Trapp' in The Sound of Music (West End); Sunset Boulevard (Adelphi Theatre); The Merchant of Venice; Troilus and Cressida both for Trevor Nunn at the National Theatre and Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Television credits include Six Characters in Search of an Author (BBC) and Auf Wiedersehn Pet (BBC).
