Bianchini brings a powerful complexity to her latest role

Actress Sam Bianchini likes finding the good in people and in characters, even those many might think of villains, as in her latest role as Mrs. Cheveley in Ghostlight Ensemble’s production of An Ideal Husband.

“It’s hard for me to hear that people think Cheveley is mean or evil,” she said. “I think she is incredibly interesting and sympathetic.”

In An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde’s comedic masterpiece of blackmail and political corruption, Sir Robert Chiltern — a virtuous government minister who built his fortune on a single dishonest act — is blackmailed by Mrs. Cheveley, who wants his assistance in another dishonest scheme. The fallout from this long-buried secret threatens to destroy his career and his marriage.

“I think most people believe Mrs. Cheveley to be the villain, but I find her to be the anti-hero,” Bianchini said. “She is like a woke-woman of the 1890's – self-made, strong-willed, sexually confident, intelligent, high in society without the help of a husband.

“I agree with so much she stands for: to be more honest, more real, more truthful. It's a shame she can't see her own folly within that, but I do believe she probably came from a poor background and did what she could as a woman to make it through. I just love her.”

It's a role that has won her rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, who have praised her immensely compelling performance.

Bianchini believes audiences love the humanity in the story and characters, as well as the wit and the love. It’s a sharp show with a lot of twists and turns, she adds.

“I've enjoyed having the audience feel like they are at a sports game sometimes – they are that audible with their laughter, tears, opinions on certain matters,” she said. “It's fabulously energizing.”

The Los Angeles- and Chicago-based actress currently makes her home in Lincoln Square and just weathered her first Chicago winter in many years and is eager for summer to begin.

“I think all Chicago starts to feel that way, so we summer hard. Festivals and warm evenings outside,” she said.

In addition to acting, Bianchini is a yoga instructor and loves world traveling and – when she’s in Los Angeles – volunteering at a wolf sanctuary. She can be seen in the 2018 film The Next Big Thing now streaming on Amazon (and soon to be released on Netflix).

Catch Bianchini on stage in Ghostlight Ensemble’s An Ideal Husband running Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. through April 28 in the North Mansion at Berger Park in Edgewater. More information is available at GhostlightEnsemble.com.