Output details

The ritual

The Ritual is a commissioned translation for the Royal National Theatre of a play by Brazilian playwright Samir Yazbeck, performed at the Cottesloe Theatre in June 2012 as part of the RNT’s Connections season. The translation is published in the Methuen anthology National Theatre Connections: plays for young people, and is also to be published in Brazil by the British Council as part of their Conexões series (http://www.conexoes.org.br/2013/quadro01.php?id=00121&canal=EDI%C7%D5ES&secao=EDI%C7%C3O%202012&subsecao=PE%C7AS). The production and translation process was discussed as part of a platform event at the Royal National Theatre (21 June 2012). This translation exhibits an approach to translation practice that engages in a dual role of both ‘foreignizing’ the text while acting as a dramaturgical advocate for it. This reflects my ongoing exploration into translation/adaptation as a discursive practice, articulated practically in my work as a translator, and critically in my scholarly presentations and publications. A paper discussing this process (‘Stages of the loss: translation as dramaturgical mediator at the Royal National Theatre, London’, IFTR 2012) was presented at the IFTR conference 2012; the idea of ‘foreignizing’ the text is discussed in my chapter ‘Turning Japanese: translation, adaptation, and the ethics of trans-national exchange’ in Adaptation Studies: new approaches.