As part of University College London’s Bite-Sized Lunchtime Lectures series, Geraldine Brodie will be giving a talk entitled: ‘The Play’s the Thing: Taking the Drama out of Translating for the Theatre’. Geraldine Brodie is based at the UCL Centre for Intercultural Studies and has been working on the subject of theatre translation for seven years. She will be speaking about her work as part of an initiative run by UCL to give early-career researchers a forum to publicise their work to the general public. Details of the event are as follows:

Date: Friday 2 March Time: 13:10-13:55 Venue: Richard Mully Basement, UCL Lewis’s Building, Gower Street. Nearest tube stop: Euston Square

Speakers:

1. The Play’s the Thing: Taking the Drama out of Translating for the Theatre. Geraldine Brodie, UCL Centre for Intercultural Studies

2. Guilty Silence: Is the Presumption of Innocence Being Undermined in the Police Station? Abenaa Owusu-Bempah, UCL Law

More information on UCL’s Bite-Sized Lunchtime Lectures Series is available here.

Two Out of the Wings-derived plays will open in London in the next week and that showcase the work of two of Latin America’s most important dramatists, Griselda Gambaro (Argentina) and Juan Radrigán (Chile).

Las Brutas / Beasts by Juan Radrigán at Theatre 503, 30 August – 24 September

On Tuesday 30 August Las Brutas / Beasts, directed by Sue Dunderale and translated by Catherine Boyle, opens at Theatre 503: www.theatre503.com.  The production is in conjunction with Head for Heights Theatre and is the British première of this lyrical and uncompromising play, which we have workshopped in readings at King’s, Tristan Bates Theatre and iceandfire & Amnesty International’s Everyone Has the Right festival.

The timing of the opening could not be better for us, since Juan Radrigán is the favourite to be awarded Chile’s National Theatre Prize, which will be announced on Friday 2 September, our press night.

There will be a staged reading of another of Radrigán’s plays, Hechos consumados / When All is Said and Done,followed by a discussion of Radrigán and theatre in translation, on Saturday 10 September. The play is translated by Catherine Boyle and by directed Justin Lucero of East 15 Acting School, one of the contenders for our Out of the Wing’s Dragons’ Den event in March. All details can be found on the Theatre 503 website.

Los Siameses / Siamese Twins by Griselda Gambaro at Theatro Technis, 2 – 25 September

On 2 September (press night 7 September) Siamese Twins, in translation by the Out of the Wings Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Gwen MacKeith, opens at Theatro Technis: http://www.theatrotechnis.com/show.php?id=42. The production is the work of the winners of the Out of the Wings Dragons’ Den event, Mara Lockowandt and Jorge Pérez Falconi of Silver Lining Theatre: www.silverliningtheatre.com.

Griselda Gambaro’s work has received international recognition, but remains little performed in the UK. This play shows her working through with great artistry her form of the Argentine grotesque, and the creative team has already held a very successful workshop on the grotesque at Canning House.

On Monday 19 September there will be a seminar on Latin American Theatre in translation at the Bolívar Hall: http://www.cultura.embavenez-uk.org/

Oberon Books will be publishing Gwen MacKeith’s translation of Siameses Twins: http://oberonbooks.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Siamese+Twins.

As Out of the Wings comes near the end of our fully-funded stage, these two London openings are important and exciting for the dissemination of our work

Out of the Wings, Silver Lining Theatre and Artes Escénicas Rayuela present the UK premiere of Siamese Twins by Griselda Gambaro at the Theatro Technis, in Camden 2 – 25 September.

For more information click here

UK premiere of the play by Juan Radrigán at Theatre 503, Latchmere Pub, 503 Battersea Park Road

Directed by Sue Dunderdale.

Translated by Catherine Boyle.

Chile, 1974. In the extreme isolation of the Andean foothills, three sisters are found hanged from a rock, their animals slaughtered beside them…
Justa, Lucia and Luciana are three Coya (indigenous Andean) sisters, and the last remnants of a large family who tried to survive in an inhospitable environment. Parents, siblings and neighbours have either died or fled the challenging landscape to find work in distant towns. Faced with ageing bodies, loneliness, and terror of unknown forces which seem to be closing in on them, the sisters make a decision which shocks a nation.
Against the backdrop of the Pinochet regime’s ascent to power, internationally-acclaimed playwright Juan Radrigán examines, movingly and at times humorously, the effect of isolation and fear on the human spirit. With poignant echoes of the 2010 Chilean miners’ crisis and resonance with marginalised communities worldwide, Beasts is a haunting portrayal of love, fear and impossible choices.

‘… an observant, sensitive and sad play, never preaching, always generous and directed with matching generosity by Sue Dunderdale.’
The Sunday Times on The Way Home
‘… sparkily translated by Catherine Boyle.’
The Daily Telegraph the RSC’s House of Desires

Juan Radrigán’s awards include: Best Chilean Play (for When All is Said and Done); Circle of Critics Prize (for The Bull by the Horns, 1983 and The Exile of the Naked Woman, 2002); Apes Prize (for Drunken Ghosts, 1997 and When All is Said and Done, 1999); the Agustin Siré Prize from the Academy of Fine Arts, 2002, and the Altazor Prize for Best Dramatist, 2005.

• Post Show talks Tuesday 30 August, Tuesday 6 September & Tuesday 20 September
• On Saturday 10 September, in lieu of a performance there will be a play reading and seminar about Juan Radrigán and Latin American theatre

Developed with the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, King’s College London, Out of The Wings and National Theatre Studio.

More information and online booking is available on the Theatre503 website.

The UK premiere of Lluïsa Cunillé’s play, Get to Know the World, translated by Gwynneth Dowling, will be performed next week at RADA. Don’t miss this opportunity to see the fascinating work of this prize-winning playwright being performed for the first time in English translation.

Click here for more information.

A unique opportunity!!

GROTESQUE THEATRE MASTERCLASS

with an exploration of the work of Griselda Gambaro

As part of the UK premiere of Argentinian playwright Griselda Gambaro’s ‘Siamese Twins,’ the Canning House is delighted to host two workshops conducted by the Silver Lining Theatre Company and Artes Escénicas Rayuela on the theatre of the Grotesque. This is a rare and exciting opportunity to explore the origins and physical theatre of the Latin American grotesque. Grotesque theatre is a performance style designed to challenge performers and audiences by inverting recognized norms and reversing expectations. The Masterclass introduces participants to a performance style intended to intimidate, shock and baffle audiences and to stimulate critical thought.

Drawing on a variety of physical theatre practices, including Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty, carnival, and the practices of Luigi Pirandello and Meyerhold, the Masterclass will introduce participants to the foundations ofgrotesque theatre and develop these techniques through improvisation and text-based work. Participants will discover the history of Grotesque theatre, and particularly the work of Griselda Gambaro, one of the most important and influential figures in contemporary Latin American grotesque theatre. The Masterclass will be led by Jorge Perez Falconi, founder and artistic director of the Festival Internacional de Teatro Carmen (FITCA), and Mara Lockowandt, Artistic Director of the Silver Lining Theatre Company.

Workshops are taking place the 19th (6-9pm) and 23rd (11-2pm) of July.
Ticket prices are only £8 for students and £10 for non-students.
TICKETS MUST BE RESERVED IN ADVANCE. Book for them here

The Out of the Wings Team are please to announce that the winner of the Dragons’ Den competition was the entry submitted jointly by the Silver Lining Theatre Company and Artes Escénicas Rayuela proposing a production of playwright Griselda Gambaro’s Los siameses translated by Gwen MacKeith. Congratulations in particular to Mara Lockowandt (Silver Lining) and to Jorge Perez Falconi (Artes Escénicas) for coming along and giving such a dynamic and interesting presentation.

We would also like to thank all the teams who came along and so confidently presented their proposals. In all we had nine entries, of which five were selected to present on the night itself. It was a great evening and we hope that it was a rewarding (if not daunting!) experience for those who entered.

Lastly, a huge thank you to our ‘dragon’ judges – James Hogan (Oberon Books); Nicola Stanhope (Hackney Empire); Alan Read (King’s College London); Chris Campbell (Royal Court Theatre); and Annecy Hayes (Iceandfire) – for their expertise, their time, and for giving our contestants and fair and robust Dragons’ Den grilling.

The Out of the Wings Dragons’ Den training session will take place tomorrow between 4 and 5.30 pm in Room S.-2.25 in the basement of the King’s Strand Campus. Take the lifts immediately in front of you as you enter the Strand reception down to floor minus 2, turn left and it is the first set of lime green door you come to. Ask for directions from the reception desk if you are unsure of where to go.

Out of the Wings “Dragons’ Den” Competition Training Session

Thursday 3 March 16.00 – 17.30 , King’s College London, Strand Campus (room TBC)

Thank you for expressing an interest in competing for up to £10,000 to produce a play from our database of translated plays from Spain and Spanish America .

We are offering a training session before the Dragons’ Den event itself. This session is designed to help you with your business planning and presentation skills.  Please let us know as soon as possible if you are able to attend.

We ask you to come to the training session with some planning of your production already underway.

Firstly, please arrive with a clear idea of which play text you have chosen for production from our database of plays available on www.outofthewings.org.

Other considerations we would also like to prepare in advance of the training session would include:

• 1) The costs involved in hiring a venue.  We would advise that you make preliminary enquiries to ascertain what these costs might be: availability, day rates, technical facilities lighting and sound, seating capacity etc.
• 2) Copyright and performance rights clearance.  Is a full translation available and can you secure permission to use it? Gain an estimate of the costs involved for performance rights.
• 3) Actors.  How many, of what gender? What will they be paid?  Are equity rates specified by the venue?
• 4)  Travel expenses involved.
• 6)  Budget for costumes?
• 7)  Cost of rehearsal space?
• 8)  Advertising: posters, flyers, listings in London publications?  Do you have an in-house designer, or will this be a further cost?  Will you use other free methods of publicising the production, eg. Facebook, Myspace etc?
• 9)  Are they any other petty costs?  Postage for a mail out etc?
• 10)  Identify your team. In addition to the actors, who will fulfil the duties of the following production team roles (these jobs may be done by the same person, but how will the responsibilities entailed be covered by the members of your team?) – Artistic director / Producer / Marketing Manager / Production Manager / Set designer / Lighting and Sound designers and technicians / Stage Manager
• 11)  A contingency sum.  When the budget has been fully costed, add 7 – 8% of the total costs.  What would that make your total figure? Make a calculation of the entire production in order to ascertain if the production will break even.  Divide the total costs by the figure of the price of a ticket multiplied by the maximum number of seats and the number of nights of performance.

While we do not expect you to have worked out each and every one of these factors in detail, your application will be enhanced by some thought given to these details. If you can identify some of these points ahead of the training day, you will get more from the session as you will be able to apply your real numbers in making a draft budget and plan.

We look forward to seeing you on the 3^rd.

With best wishes,

The Out of the Wings Team

Registration for Invisible Presences: Translation, Dramaturgy and Performance, to be held in the Brian Friel Theatre at Queen’s University Belfast (18-20 April), is now open. Please go to https://admin.qol.qub.ac.uk/ecommerce/trad2011/ and continue through the registration process. A link to our website, where you will find discounted accommodation, may also be found there.

Once you have registered, we will send you regular updates on the Invisible Presences Conference.

The following have confirmed as plenary participants: Susan Bassnett, Catherine Boyle, Marvin Carlson, Peter Eckershall, Susan Fischer, David Johnston, Mary Luckhurst, Lawrence Venuti. There will also be nearly fifty papers, two rehearsed readings, a performance and a number of workshops.