Funnier than a campaign stumble, infinitely more entertaining than a leaders debate and with crackling dialogue that hits harder than a tax cut,

An Ideal Husband is a fantastical and farcical antidote to the 2022 Federal election.

Set in the hallowed halls of Canberra’s House of Representatives in the mid-1990s, the reworked classic dabbles in political corruption, hypocrisy, blackmail and scandal while also posing age-old questions about love, loyalty and the value of relationships.

Brisbane playwright Lewis Treston adapted the play and leans into the absurdity of politics and romanticises the era instead of drumming a particular agenda or hot-button issue.

“I put Australian politics into a blender and extracted the bits I thought would be funny,” Treston says.

“That shift from Keating to Howard, from a progressive to a conservative government struck me as a historical transition point in Australia’s history and setting the play in this era makes it more relevant than a turn of the century melodrama.

“It’s in no way historically accurate and while some bits are recognisable, relatable and have resonance today, I’ve had a lot of fun making things up. This play is a fantastical take and a queer reimagining of ’90 Australian politics.

“I’ve taken recognisable political archetypes and used them and while the characters are not real people, there’s definitely a wink and a nudge to who they might be based on.”

Playwright Oscar Wilde gets a similar treatment, his wit and witticism skewed to a modern audience, his preposterous plotlines gently teased, and his zingy one-liners interspersed with ‘90s catchphrases.

Breathing life into the sizzling script is a popularly-elected all-star cast including Emily Burton – the 2022 Best Actress Matilda Award winner for La Boite’s Naked & Screaming – Christen O’Leary, Will Carseldine, Billy Fogarty, Patrick Jhanur, Kevin Spink, Hsiao-Ling Tang and Kevin Hides.

Costume and Set Designer Chloe Greaves has fun with both, draping the cast in iconic ‘90s fashion and converting La Boite’s Roundhouse Theatre into Federal Parliament’s House of Representatives, complete with signature green furnishings and a public balcony.

Director Bridget Boyle, a self-confessed political junkie and ‘90s tragic, says An Ideal Husband is a fast-moving play that’s “part sitcom and part French farce” laced with references from Seinfeld to Clueless, all set to a classic 90’s soundtrack: “You know, when music was good.”

“There’s a sense of distance and fantasy to the play, it presents a version of life that is far from Utopia and that’s the joy! This idea of “ideal” is blown apart – there’s no such thing as ideal, we’re all flawed, we’re all human and that’s OK,” Boyle says.

“It’s a fab, fizzy night of entertainment with some virtuosic comic turns and a beautiful undertone that asks questions about the nature of love, marriage, compromise and politics because, at its heart, it’s all about relationships.

“And there’s at least one dance routine to a ‘90s banger!”

An Ideal Husband
18 July – 6 August 2022
La Boite Theatre, Brisbane
www.laboite.com.au

The possibilities for dance in Wilde’s characters – the golden Prince, his loyal friend the Swallow, the seductive Reed, the pitiful Match Girl – will be fabulously realised in Murphy’s distinctive choreographic style.

The Happy Prince features a specially commissioned score from the renowned composer Christopher Gordon, who composed the scores for the films Mao’s Last Dancer, Ladies in Black and Master and Commander, alongside the work of award-winning artist and director Kim Carpenter, who adapted the story and created the colourful design for the ballet.

Playful and poignant, The Happy Prince will capture children’s imagination with its vivid spectacle and adults’ attention with its timely message: a kind heart shines brighter than gold.

The Happy Prince
25 – 29 February 2020
QPAC, Brisbane
www.qpac.com.au

The achingly beautiful and tender language of Oscar Wilde joins the intimate and magical world of internationally acclaimed Adelaide theatre company, Slingsby. Journey in wonder, to a land of challenging choices and rich rewards.

“In his tale The Young King, Oscar Wilde employs his trademark alluringly ornate language to draw us into a story that forces us to confront our notions of beauty, leadership and compassion. First published in Oscar Wilde’s A House of Pomegranates alongside the much loved The Selfish Giant and The Happy Prince, Slingsby is thrilled to bring the lesser known The Young King to new audiences.” Andy Packer, Artistic Director, Slingsby

The Young King tells the story of a young boy born to a princess and a poor woodland man. Snatched from his parents as a baby, the Young King is raised by a kindly goatherd in a deep forest. Years pass and the old King, father of the princess, nears the end of his life. The old king calls for the boy to be brought to the palace; there he tells him, “You are not a young goatherd, you are my grandson the Young King and heir to my throne”.

On the eve of his coronation, the Young King has three dreams from which he awakes, saddened. He shuns the costly robe, sceptre and crown he had demanded and reaches instead for his humble goatherd’s cloak and staff and a circlet of briar thorns for his head.

His courtiers beseech him: “How shall the people know you are King?” The townsfolk laugh, then grow angry: “Don’t you know, from your luxury comes our living?” In turmoil, the Young King walks away from the palace to where the forest begins. And as the woodland welcomes him, he feels his heart and his step lighten. He turns to face the people and the sunlight beams down and weaves about him a robe brighter than gold, and his staff blossoms with lilies whiter than pearls, and his circlet of briar blooms with roses redder than rubies. And then he, and all the world around, know he is King.

Slingsby’s The Young King
Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane
23 to 27 Jul 2019
www.qpac.com.au

Featuring a selection of Barton’s evocative paintings alongside a screening of the film, stunning never-before-seen handmade props, and material from the production archives, Del Kathryn Barton: The Nightingale and the Rose reveals the extraordinary workings behind this captivating animated picture.

Del Kathryn Barton: The Nightingale and the Rose Exhibition
21 June – 11 September 2016
ACMI, Melbourne
www.acmi.net.au

His infamous letter, written in 1897 from Reading Gaol to his lover and betrayer, holds a tabloid fascination. It is an intimate investigation of a world class dramatist and shamed celebrity suffering political imprisonment, censorship and trial by media.

Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis is sexually uncompromising, audacious and exquisitely powerful. A one-man tour-de-force performance by Brian Lucas.

This brutal and touching work investigates human rights, their quashing, emergence and acceptance – it charts the shift and suffering of discrimination for queer communities, drawing together the threads of current debates about inequality under the law and reflecting ongoing concerns through the mirror of time; the right to love, who you love, no matter their gender or sex.

Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis is a contemporary theatre adaption of a classic literary work never before seen on stage. An exciting collaboration between David Fenton and Brian Lucas, with vision design by Ray Pittman and composition by David Megarrity.

Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis
Wednesday 22 April – Saturday 02 May, 2015
Brisbane Powerhouse
www.brisbanepowerhouse.org