Taproot Theatre Company in Seattle is celebrating its current production with a “Date Night Special.” Taproot will offer 2-for-1 tickets for An Ideal Husband on Friday, October 7 only as part of the Arts Crush promotion. The performance begins at 8:00 p.m. at 204th North 85th Street in Seattle, 98103. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 206.781.9707 and asking for the “Arts Crush Date Night Offer.” (Arts Crush is a month-long festival that connects artists and audiences with invigorating new experiences at hundreds of events across the region.) Even if you can’t make the “date night” you still have plenty of time to enjoy the show.
Taproot Theatre Company is concluding their 35th anniversary season with Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband that is running until October 22. Although written in 1895, the comedy is very fresh and thanks to the ensemble casting, feels similar in tone to an episode of television’s Frazier.
Sir Chiltern appears to be the “ideal husband” to all who know him but most especially to his wife, Lady Chiltern. However, when a choice from earlier in his career comes back to haunt him, he struggles on how to break the news to his adoring wife that she shouldn’t have placed him so high on a pedestal. As it turns out, others have been placed on pedestals as well and a whole mess of misunderstandings ensue.
An Ideal Husband stars Ryan Childers, (last seen Taproot’s stage in Something’s Afoot), as Sir Robert Chiltern and Candace Vance as the love struck Lady Chiltern. Nikki Visel plays a much different role than she did in her last role as a Girl Scout leader in Brownie Points. Here she plays the infamous Mrs. Chevely, who went to school with Lady Chiltern and has some dirt on her husband. Anne Kennedy Brady plays Robert’s sister, Mabel, who strives to be center of attention of everyone including suitor Lord Goring (Aaron Lamb). Lord Goring has the terrible task of being everyone’s best friend by keeping their secrets and avoiding his father, Lord Caversham (Nolan Palmer), who wants the boy to settle down and marry someone. Anyone. The cast is rounded out with Adrienne Littleton, Joe Monroe, Simon Pringle, Sarah Ware and Pam Nolte.
While the play starts out with a crisp pace, it is often difficult to hear all the characters’ lines in the beginning. This may be due to the speed of the delivery or the accents provided, but at any rate, as the play moves on, the scenes and dialog slow down. The set is rather sparse which only helps accentuate the wonderful period costumes. Some of the actor’s roles are smartly doubled as servants who move furniture between scenes and help to never take the audience out of the story.
An Ideal Husband is a wonderful show. Fans of Taproot will notice some of director Karen Lund’s personal touches to the story making it that much more enjoyable. Although squeaky clean, leave your kids at home as they will not understand or enjoy the story.
Performances of An Ideal Husband continue Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and matinees are presented on Saturdays as well at 2 p.m. Ticket range from $20-35 and can be purchased at the box office in person, online or by phone by calling 206.781.9708.
If you are looking for a place to hang out before the show, you may want to visit the Green Bean Coffeehouse, which is nearby. Click on the link below to learn more.
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