Last updated 19:28, Thursday, 27 November 2008

ACTING as man and wife turned to reality for one Cockermouth couple.

Keith Irving, 60, and Gwen Irving, 48, who have been members of Cockermouth Amateur Dramatic Society for 20 years, tied the knot for real in July this year.

They were married at Cockermouth Register Office and had a reception at the town’s Kirkgate Centre surrounded by family and friends from the drama society.

The couple, who have a friendship spanning more than 30 years, said they were drawn together by their love of the theatre.

Keith, a retired English teacher, said: “We had a great friendship over the years but we were drawn together by the society and our love for drama.

“I think it was fate for us because we’ve played married couples in three stage productions.”

And this week they are acting man and wife again, playing the roles of Frank and Theresa in Cockermouth Amateur Dramatic Society’s autumn production of the acclaimed play Memory of Water by Shelagh Stevenson.

The play, directed by Simon Pollit, is a dark comedy that focuses on three sisters who are at the funeral and wake of their mother.

Gwen plays Theresa, a neurotic vegetarian in the health food business who is partial to a bottle of vodka or two.

Keith plays Frank, her long-suffering husband.

Despite their volatile characters’ on-stage arguments, the couple claim they couldn’t be happier in real life.

Gwen, a schools for life tutor at Sellafield, said: “Our characters are really argumentative on stage and Theresa is highly neurotic. We’re a much more relaxed couple in real life.”

The pair met in 1972 when they were part of Curwen Heritage Theatre Group’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

They remained friends over the years and performed as man and wife in productions such as Hamlet.

The pair have been in more than 30 plays between them and have worked together on local productions such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and Julius Caesar.

Gwen added: “It was purely accidental that we’ve played man and wife on stage so many times.

“But I think that playing man and wife four times must have had a hidden meaning that drew us together.”