Pell takes on gender politics and Oscar Wilde in her latest role

For actress Madeline Pell, dealing with the politics of womanhood has been both her favorite part and biggest challenge in her latest role as Lady Gertrude Chiltern in Ghostlight Ensemble’s production of An Ideal Husband.

“I am a big fan of Gertrude's ambition and influence in the politics of her era, especially considering society's expectations for her as a woman at that time,” Pell said.

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. Lady Chiltern, the earnest, educated wife of Sir Robert, holds her husband up as the model for both her and society at large. As such she is unable to deal with the revelations of his secret past and the fallout from this long-buried secret threatens to destroy his career and his marriage.

Reviewers have heaped praise on Pell’s performance of Lady Chiltern, saying she played the role with “pitch-perfect softness of tone and firmness of belief.”

Pell said one of her biggest challenges has been figuring out how Gertrude hears, reacts to and interprets Lord Goring's last big speech to her in which he says: “A man’s life is of more value than a woman’s. It has larger issues, wider scope, and greater ambitions. A woman’s life revolves in curves of emotions…A woman who can keep a man’s love, and love him in return, has done all the world wants of women, or should want of them.”

“It is a difficult one for modern women to swallow,” Pell said, “and it took a lot of conversation to try to define what it means to Gertrude and what has to happen for her internally in order to motivate her next moment in the show. Holly, our director, was incredible in working with me on that moment.”

Despite these struggles, Pell said An Idea Husband was a fun show to work on.

“Oscar Wilde's language is fantastic, and his ability to walk the line between humor and drama is beautifully delicate yet deliberate,” she said. “I hope audiences will enjoy the fun balance of humorously absurd situations mixed with some honest, endearing love stories. I hope they will see themselves in some of the characters, and find the story to be a little more applicable to our current society than they might have expected.”

A graduate of Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts, Pell may also be recognizable to audiences from her work with Lifeline Theatre and Three Brothers Theatre. She’ll next be seen in Waltzing Mechanics' Documentary Play Festival in May.

When not on stage the Rogers Park resident enjoys baking, reading and binge-watching the latest period drama on Netflix.

“I adore the community feel of Rogers Park, as well as the ample supply of delicious restaurants and fun activities,” Pell said. “I enjoy living somewhere where I can recognize a friend on a street or find a used book store to frequent.”

Catch Pell 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.