An Ideal Husband - Lyric Hammersmith Review

Review by Giada at Lyric Hammersmith

I was more than ready to leave the Wilde revival season behind in favour of the more Brechtian twists currently dominating London’s theatre scene - at least until last night. Because An Ideal Husband at the Lyric Hammersmith is the best Oscar Wilde revival I’ve seen in a long time. And mind you, I thoroughly enjoyed The Importance of Being Earnest recently at the National.

Photo by Helen Murray.

It may be impolite to draw comparisons, but this production achieves something the other didn’t: it makes Wilde feel genuinely contemporary. Not modernised in a superficial way, but coexisting with us. We are not being transported back into the characters’ world; rather, the characters have been brought forward into ours. While part of that success naturally belongs to Wilde’s timeless writing, it is Nicholai La Barrie’s fascinating direction that ultimately allows the transposition.

Plot-wise, very little has changed, aside from a few playful references to Beyoncé and Obama. Yet making some of the more outdated elements feel relevant was clearly the challenge. The political scandal surrounding the Suez Canal, after all, reminds us that we will always live in times of smoky business deals, corruption, and opportunism. I was more concerned about the diamonds-and-love-letters beats, but by the time they come into play, the production smartly leans into farce, allowing the comedy to fully emerge.

The moral compass of the play is Lady Chiltern, played by Tamara Lawrance with integrity and candour. Her uncompromising belief in truth ultimately secures her happy ending. By contrast, Mrs Cheveley loses everything (money, marriage, status) in what feels like a punishment for threatening the ideal public image of the Chiltern household. Aurora Perrineau portrays her with a fluctuating nervous intensity, though I suspect the performance will settle more naturally as the run continues. At a time when women were considered, in the words of the Earl of Caversham (Jeff Alexander), incapable of common sense, it is fascinating that both the intrigue and its resolution ultimately rest in female hands, and the production does well to highlight the strength of its female leads.

Chiké Okonkwo gives Lord Chiltern all the recognisable qualities of a contemporary politician: the polished demeanour, the carefully measured confidence, and the visible panic at the realisation that power could potentially slip away. Then there is Lord Goring, played brilliantly by Jamael Westman: part postmodern guru, part street-smart social observer. He is perhaps the only character who truly understands the society around him, which is precisely why he appears so detached, idle, and mischievous. Both commentator and manipulator. Westman does something particularly compelling with the role, keeping me on my toes from start to finish.

Emmanuel Akwafo. Photo by Helen Murray.

The ensemble scenes crackle with energy thanks to the production’s sharp dynamics and uniformly strong performances. I was especially delighted to see Emmanuel Akwafo, whose work I greatly admire. Their turn as the sassy, perpetually unimpressed Mason/Phipps brings effortless fun to the production.

The costume design by Rajha Shakiry is exceptional. Each look feels like an artwork in itself: elegant, refined, and deeply revealing of character before a single line is spoken. Particularly striking is the contrast between Mrs Cheveley, almost a Lady Macbeth figure in warrior-like silhouettes and shades of red, and the ethereal Lady Chiltern, draped in luminous white throughout.

Ultimately, An Ideal Husband is such a successful revival because it understands that Wilde’s wit alone is not enough. Rather than preserving the play behind glass as a literary classic, Nicholai La Barrie is courageous and confident enough to play with it. And to discover that, although the characters themselves cannot change, there is no need for them to remain stuck in time. They can still breathe, flirt, scheme, and scandalise in the present tense.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An Ideal Husband runs at Lyric Hammersmith until Saturday 6th June 2026. For tickets visit https://lyric.co.uk/

Tamara Lawrance and Chiké Okonkwo. Photo by Helen Murray.