The Secrets of Marriage

The Secrets of Marriage brings together two rarely performed operas about the (un)habit of hiding things from the one you love - and how absurd things become when secrets are revealed.

In the tragicomic "On the Harmfulness of Tobacco" (originally a monologue by Anton Chekhov), a lecturer strays from his subject. Instead of discussing the dangers of tobacco, he speaks with increasing candour about his marriage - and points to all the small compromises we make to preserve a corner of ourselves in peace.

In the comedy "Susanna's Secret", the same husband suspects a stranger's tobacco scent at home. Has his wife been visited by a lover? The couple is swept into a marital dance where the turns carry them from solitude to togetherness.

"On the Harmfulness of Tobacco" is an opera monologue in one act by Martin Kalmanoff (1920-2007), with libretto by Anton Chekhov and Swedish translation by Mattias Ermedahl. "Susanna's Secret" is an opera in one act by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948), with libretto by Enrico Golisciani and Swedish translation by Jonas Egfors. The production is performed on the Little Stage and on tour.