Translating Theatre, Migrating Text(s)
University of Warwick, 12 June 2010
Guest speakers: Professor David Johnston, Professor Catherine Boyle
Roundtable discussion led by Silvija Jestrovic with Ermanna Montanari, Rani Moorthi, Paul Sirett and Matthew Zajac.
Translating Theatre. Migrating Text is a one-day colloquium exploring places of contact between current thinking about translation, global performance and contemporary forms of migrant theatre. The first in a series of events on theatre and translation organized with partners from the University of East Anglia and Milan State University, the colloquium seeks to establish a forum for the discussion of translation and migrant theatre that is international, interdisciplinary and innovative in its engagement with translation theory and theatre practice. Our point of departure is a definition of theatre translation that sees it not only as the product of interlingual transfer but as a process of negotiation of cultural contact through performance. Moving from such a re-definition we intend to explore translation practices in the context of an increasingly global theatre market while interrogating the work of actors, directors and playwrights who centre their artistic practice in the context of migration
The day will be divided into three parts, combining theoretical and practical approaches. The first part will consist of a series of academic papers exploring possible points of contact between theatre translation and migrant theatre (the politics of representation and mimesis, questions of origin and authenticity, acceptance and/or resistance to assimilation, the hybrid nature of notions of culture, identity and language). The second part – From Page to Stage –, will be a roundtable discussion with practitioners (actors, directors, playwrights) which will focus on performance, highlighting the intertwining relationship between writing, translating and performing migrant narratives. The final part of the colloquium will include a practical workshop on the creation and interpretation of migrant characters by London-based theatre company Legal Aliens. The workshop will involve hands-on activities related to the construction of migrant characters and the mise en scène.
To register, please contact Kerry Drakeley (K.J.Drakeley@warwick.ac.uk)
