EDITORIAL: TRANSLATING FOR THE STAGE

Editorial

Sallie Goetsch
Department of Classical Studies
2076 Administrative Services Building
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
U.S.A.*

First, the editors would like to apologize for the delay in publishing Issue 3, which is due in great part to the fact that the editorial base is about to move from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Warwick, England. The editor-address for Didaskalia will not change. The new hardcopy address is:

c/o Joint School of Theatre Studies*
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
England
Tel. (0203) 523020
Fax (0203) 524446

Translating is something which all of us from classics backgrounds have had to do, if only to convince an instructor that we understand the structure of a Greek or Latin sentence. Translating for the stage is another matter entirely. In a classroom, one can translate Medea's olola (704) as 'I am in a state of having been utterly destroyed.' No actor would be caught dead saying it.

The features in this issue represent a selection of words which actors have said and audiences have heard, and of approaches to translation when performance is the goal. In some cases, translation flows into adaptation, and beyond; the Brazilian Os Sete Contra Tebas described in Ricardo Montenegro's piece is a translation of spirit, not words. The principle which unites these very different scripts and productions is that of playability, an awareness that the words have to work on the stage.

This issue is heavily weighted toward the Greek side; we will publish an issue on translating Roman plays for the stage a few months down the line. Anyone working on translations of Plautus, Terence, or later Latin plays should contact the editors about contributing a feature.

There are also many original plays and operas with mythological subjects or themes. Playwrights, librettists, composers, etc. who are working on such pieces are invited to propose features for a later issue of Didaskalia.

Issue 4 will appear early in October of 1994. The theme for that issue is 'Greek-Asian Fusion.' Anyone wishing to contribute features should contact the editors. Reviews, listings, and feedback of any kind are always welcome.

* These details are now outdated. Users are advised to refer to the Contact page.

Didaskalia Volume 1 Issue 3 - August 1994 / edited by Sallie Goetsch and Peter Toohey / University of Warwick / ISSN 1321-4853

Updated: 11 December 2005