London Theatre Direct

REVIEWS: AN IDEAL HUSBAND AT THE VAUDEVILLE

15 November 2010

"***** This sumptuous production not only looks incredible – the costumes and scenery are simply stunning – but the brilliant cast turn this Oscar Wilde masterpiece into an acting masterclass.  Samantha Bond is mischievous and sultry, Alexander Hanson brings great gravitas to the part of Lord Goring, Elliot Cowan's comic timing is razor-edged and Rachael Sterling brings both depth and subtlety to Lady Chiltern. A must-see!" - LondonTheatreDirect.com

The Daily Mail - Quentin Lets

"An Ideal Night out"

"Mad and masterly"

"Samantha Bond is terrific"

"The night is made by a performance of rising frenzy from Elliot Cowan, fast developing into a top-rank talent"

"Proof Oscar was on to a real winner"
 
The Daily Express - Paul Callen

"A gloriously topical tale"

"The truly wonderful Samantha Bond as Mrs Cheveley steals every scene she is in"

"Alexander Hanson brings a well-observed crushed dignity to the part of Sir Robert"

"Rachael Stirling is superbly priggish as Lady Chiltern"

"The evening really belongs to Elliot Cowan"

"Much praise too for Lindsay Posner’s fluent direction and designer Stephen Brimson Lewis’s gorgeously glowing sets"

 
 
The Daily Telegraph – Charles Spencer

"Richly entertaining evening"

"Alexander Hanson powerfully captures the politician’s rising panic, and there are strong performances from Rachael Stirling and Elliot Cowan."

"The real star turn comes from Samantha Bond … she brings a delicious vivacity and wit to the role, delivering her lines in a voice that is a mixture of honey and ground glass"

 "Lindsay Posner’s production captures the piece’s mixture of elegant plotting and sudden passages of emotional truth"

"Stephen Brimson Lewis’s opulent design"

 
 The Evening Standard - Henry Hitchings

"Superb performances"

"A mesmerising, husky Samantha Bond"

"Alexander Hanson, passionate"

"Rachael Stirling is note-perfect"

"Sprightly work in smaller roles by Charles Kay and Fiona Button"

"The star turn comes from Elliot Cowan. Here he demonstrates his real gift is for comedy – and it is quite some gift"
 
The Times – Libby Purves

"Samantha Bond is splendid"

"The cast skip through wordy epigrams, though none with quite as glorious relish and Caroline Blakiston, who won a mid-scene round of applause"

"Elegance and wit apart, this is about money and power – some things don’t change."

Whatsonstage – Michael Coveney

"A wonderful evening"

"Admirers of Downton Abbey will be thunderstruck by the quality of the script, the elegance of phrase and the architecture of thought and speech"

"Hanson and Bond are well matched by Rachael Stirling as Lady Chiltern and Elliot Cowan as Lord Goring in their sinuous arguments and witty debate"

"The cast is strong all the way down to Charles Kay’s dyspeptic grandee and Caroline Blakiston’s magnificent dowager right through to Max Digby’s deliciously observed servant and Fiona Button’s pert society sibling"