Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears with evidence of a past he would rather hide. Sir Robert has to decide whether to yield to blackmail or risk exposing the origins of his wealth and position. The themes of this play, which revolve around blackmail and political corruption, are as relevant now as they were when Oscar Wilde wrote the play 130 years ago.