Are Claire Cunningham’s crutches the reason there isn’t a human partner in her life?

a long shot in a dark theatre. Claire Cunningham is dancing with a male dancer who lifts her up, her crutches outstretched as she turns.We popped up to Glasgow last week to film the second 90 second short based on Claire Cunningham, who was just about the open Ménage à Trois - a darkly humorous and deeply personal portrait that explores Claire’s 20-year relationship with her crutches and asks if it’s possible to find love when there are already three of you in the relationship.

There is a great piece by Mary Brennan in the Herald, which really gets to the heart of the work, as Claire explains the process behind it:

“I had to confront the fact that crutches are the only partner in my life, and why is that?” The temptation was, of course, to blame work. It’s what so many of us do when we lose touch with friends, or choose to stay at home with a box-set. But Cunningham wasn’t in the mood to let herself off the hook.

“I knew I was using work as an excuse, and as a distraction. Yes, I was busy but I didn’t need to let the work become all-consuming or get in the way of my doing other things – like having a proper social life, or significant personal relationships. And actually, by blaming work for my not having a partner meant I wasn’t addressing other issues, potentially very painful issues.

“Were the crutches, the impairment, the real reason there isn’t a human partner in my life? And once you’ve started thinking in these terms, there’s no way back.”

You’ll have to wait a little while to see our second film on Claire, but hopefully not too much longer to see the first – watch this space and we’ll update you as soon as we can!