Playwright Lewis Treston has made his mainstage debut with an entertaining Australian adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband at La Boite’s Roundhouse Theatre. Directed by Bridget Boyle with her signature comedic flair, and with dramaturgical consultation by Saffron Benner, this high-energy adaptation transplanted the tale of politics, principles and power to a fictionalised Canberra in the lead-up to the 1996 federal election.

An Ideal Husband © Morgan Roberts

Arthur ‘Artie’ Whig, a young man of leisure, has been given an ultimatum by his politician father – get a job and get married, or have his allowance cut off. In the meantime, Artie’s best friend Mabel has proposed to him – a marriage of convenience, since they are both interested in men – and he is trying to help another friend, Minister for the Environment Robyn Shi, who is being blackmailed by Artie’s former lover, Lucian. Plagued by a potential scandal from her past, Minister Shi is also struggling to maintain her relationship with her idealistic partner and political advisor, Gertrude Chiltern. With the help of a journalist, who finds himself embroiled in the brewing scandal, Artie seeks to turn...