Since moving down to Melbourne from Sydney, core team member Samantha Cunningham has amassed an impressive list of theatre credits to her name in a short time. A jack of all trades, Samantha has been seen onstage in Tigers Be Still, directed and wrote Don’t Tell The Women (which featured earlier in our 2016 season) and co-directed The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow for Melbourne Fringe last year.

Now tackling one half of our ambitious Oscar Wilde double bill, we caught up with Samantha to learn a little more about what we can expect from her all-female version of An Ideal Husband.

In this day and age, why is it still so important for audiences to see a period piece like An Ideal Husband?

Truly wonderful texts never cease to be relevant. In this case, An Ideal Husband, continues to speak to the modern era from the past. With its themes of love, the role of women, blackmail and political scandal it has everything the modern audience craves all wrapped in a wit and elegance our current politicians distinctly lack.

What can audiences look forward to from the Double Bill?

What isn’t there to look forward to? Romance, “Bunburying”, blackmail, political intrigue, scathing wit, brilliant performances and a decent cup of tea.

What’s the biggest challenge you think this piece poses to you as a director?

I would say the most challenging, and most rewarding aspect of this production has been guiding the actors through their physical transformations, finding both the physicality of the period and the physicality of the other gender has been quite a journey.

You’re well into rehearsals by now – how are you enjoying it so far?

I am having the time of my life. I am working with the most wonderful actors, across both casts, and every rehearsal is a joy. Working on a Wilde show is always a pleasure, which is made more enjoyable by the excellent caliber of actors we have on board for this production.

What do you love most about the play?

This particular play, although horribly sexist, features women actually doing things, with their brains, by themselves. It is so refreshing to find strong women in classic texts that have not been forced into strength by circumstance, rather in this play (for good or evil pursuits) the women have chosen agency and pursue their own interests fiercely.

Oscar Wilde’s work is full of comedies of manners and class. What drew you to what is arguably one of his only “serious” works?

An Ideal Husband, unlike Wilde’s other works, is made up of the usual social commentary that you come to expect but also has a focus on the moral expectations of those in politics, or the lack thereof. The inclusion of a political scandal and characters that surround it are so interesting and have such depth that it makes this particular work a meatier and more challenging work.

What is your favourite challenge particular to the switching of gender roles in this show?

My favourite part of switching the gender roles for this show is that the gender issues are particularly highlighted. The opinions of men towards women are horrid in their original state but become absolutely heinous when it comes from the mouth of a female actor. It has also been fantastic to watch women become men and discover the strength and power that they inherently possess that has been buried due to the social conventions of gender.

What has been the biggest surprise of the process so far?

I have been most surprised by the incredible changing effect that a pair of socks in a woman’s pants has on her persona.

If you had to step into one of your actor’s shoes and take on a role, which one would it be – and why?

I adore all of the characters in the show, but if I had to choose I would love to take on the role of Mrs. Cheveley, played by the incomparable Cazz Bainbridge. Mrs. Cheveley is considered the villain of the piece but if viewed through a feminist lens she is incredibly strong and working, very effectively I might add, in a man’s world.

What is your favourite of Oscar Wilde’s lines – from any work? What speaks to you about it?

“All women become like their mothers, that is their tragedy. No man does and that is his.” I particularly love this line because as I grow older I recognize the inevitability of becoming just like my mother, and what a wonderful woman she is too.