The grotesque farce of Mr Punch the cuckold - Ramn del Valle-Incln

It may well be the sheer virtuosity of its writing that has
deprived English audiences hitherto of an opportunity to
appreciate
Los cuernos de Don Friolera . This comic masterpiece by Spain's most innovative modern dramatist provides a provocatively
sardonic treatment of marital infidelity and honourable revenge.
Intricate in construction and thoughtful in the issues it raises,
the play is nonetheless vivid in its impact as it veers
disconcertingly between witty debate, uproarious farce and
ludicrously overblown melodrama. The traditions and institutions
which, in the 1920s (and, in some cases, for most of this
century), blocked Spain's path to modernization and progress are
mercilessly lampooned. The translation seeks to convey the
dramatic point of the dialogue, its innuendos, allusions and
shifts of register, rather than a strict literalness.