Review: AN IDEAL MAN at CONE MAN RUNNING

Oscar Wilde’s AN IDEAL HUSBAND was a play that debuted during a turbulent time in the playwright’s life. He was on trial for “gross indecency,” and this was his treatise on public and private morality, duplicity, and thumbing his nose at society's standards. He was on trial for secrets that were no more remarkable than the men and women in high society around him. It has long been regarded as a classic farce, and Cone Man Running and Boiling Point Players have decided to turn it into a meditation on the machinations of Houston’s River Oaks A-List of 1985. Big hair, big galas, and big reputations are all on full display as we witness the Chilterns having a crisis of faith in how moral they all are. Aerobics meets politics in a rather fun new take on a tried-and-true classic. Big drama, and big thumbs on big noses as the ladies who lunch in 80s-era Houston go Wilde. They have renamed this version AN IDEAL MAN, and it throws in specific time-stamped Htown references, yet still hews close to the original text.  

Ruth McCleskey is the adapter and director of this script, professing a love of the source material from the well-known 1999 Rupert Everett and Minnie Driver film. She has assembled a cast game to give this all a go in the very intimate space of Cone Man Running. The concept is a stretch to make this 1980s River Oaks, and some of the note-passing and formal societal conventions that Wilde uses still ring as if they were partying like it was 1899. The cast is comically outfitted in maximal shoulder pads and thirsty wigs that beg for less hairspray and more combing. The Galleria, the country club, and Jamie Lee Curtis in PERFECT are all referenced to give it a period sense, and 80s shorty shorts for Arthur Goring Caversham are anything but sensible in this comedy of manners. 

Katherine Rinaldi is appropriately prim and proper as the ultimate good wife, Gertrude Chiltern. She has Linda Evans' innocent white dress, but Joan Collin’s wig as the moral matriarch who thinks her Senator husband is an upright, good Christian citizen. Rinaldi plays it all well, and she’s a standout here for her conviction to the concept of both the text and the conceit. Mark Stanley portrays her hubby, the honorable Senator Robert Chiltrern. He plays it sappy and sweet, and seems incapable of any wrongdoing. Mary Mink has a blast as Mabel, the Senator’s sister who has her eye on eligible bachelor Arthur Goring Caversham. She’s spunky and has a killer, devilish smile. Dano Colón plays Arthur, the stand-in for Wilde, very straight, often not realizing the camp quality of the lines. Yet that works in an odd way (sincere satire), and he does look nice in his shorts. Autumn Clack plays the villain of the piece, Laura Cheveley, a sexy blackmailer who is out to get what she can with a secret that would undo the Senator’s reputation. She seduces everyone blatantly, even recreating a scene or two from BASIC INSTINCT. Amazingly, one of the best performances of the evening comes from the actress playing all the “bit butler” parts, Renata Santoro Smith. She is hysterical and adds plenty of physical comedy to the proceedings. Alice Rhoades, Kelsi Gallagher, and John Raley round out the cast with their funny flourishes as well. 

Technically, this group knows how to work this small space. Debra Schultz invents a well-appointed room that doubles as the Chilterns’ and Arthur’s houses. Katherine Rinaldi does double duty as leading lady and Costume Designer, and the looks evoke the era and the place. Ruth S. McCleskey’s direction keeps all the players moving in and out with the appropriate frenetic pace without ever having a mishap. The show is tightly blocked and inventively staged. The wigs added a comical element to the proceedings, but they really do need to be styled. The 80s were not THAT ratty, but then again, I am not admitting to having been there at River Oaks Country Club at that time (spoiler alert, I was). 

AN IDEAL MAN is a fun spin on the source material, and it’s charming and affable in its delivery. I like the idea of the cast of DYNASTY suddenly being thrust into Oscar Wilde’s England via River Oaks. There are some anachronisms as a result of sticking closely to the mechanics of the plot, but that shouldn’t offend fans of the text. Could the letter be a fax or a dot-matrix-printer document? No worries, though. If you’re game, this cast is ready to go there. They are all having great fun turning AN IDEAL HUSBAND into a parody of Texas elites here in Houston. You’ll have a good time, and don’t forget to wear your shoulder pads or short shorts. Oh, and tease that hair just a bit more than you think is appropriate. 

AN IDEAL MAN runs through April 25th upstairs on the second level of the Spring Street Studios in the Cone Man Running space. It’s a small house, so definitely buy tickets in advance, and get to the theater twenty minutes early to snag your favorite seat.