MARRIAGE is a famously complex institution. On one hand, there's the ideal image of the thing. And then there's the reality – the long lifetime of compromises, disappointments and occasional joys that makes up any ordinary existence, whether married
or single. Federico Garcia Lorca's rarely-performed comedy The Shoemaker's Wonderful Wife explores this space between marital dream and reality; and although it's likely to remain a less iconic piece of theatre than the great Lorca tragedies, Rosie Kellagher's 55-minute Corona Classic Cuts production at Oran Mor does just enough to make a full-length production seem like an interesting project.
Translated and adapted by Paines Plough boss Roxana Silbert, this short version of the play begins with a painful portrait of marital disharmony between the 50-year-old shoemaker and his lovely wife, not yet 20, and alarmingly given to chatting with other men through the windows of their house. Things, though, are not quite as they seem; and when the shoemaker storms out and leaves the village after yet another row, it soon becomes clear that the wife is more loyal to her marriage than anyone could have predicted – as least so long as her husband remains out of sight.
Sarah McCardie and Callum Cuthbertson turn in sprightly performances as the unhappy couple, with Cuthbertson subtly exploring how male strangers always appear more enticing than familiar husbands; Keith Fleming is in wicked, scene-stealing form as a gallery of passing townsfolk. And if this is a less compelling show than the first two Classic Cuts of the season, it's perhaps because we, in the audience, lack the background knowledge of this play that helps give these short shows resonance, and makes the cutting and condensing more fun.
The full article contains 301 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
