Plays in Translation on the London Stage: Visibility, Celebrity, Agency and Collaboration
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Plays in Translation on the London Stage: Visibility, Celebrity, Agency and Collaboration Geraldine Susan Brodie University College London PhD Thesis in Translation Studies 2 DECLARATION I, Geraldine Susan Brodie, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 3 ABSTRACT The theatrical practice of prominently attaching a well-known theatre practitioner’s name to a staged playtext, which may have been composed using an expert’s literal translation, raises issues of visibility and agency in translation theory. How does the ‘celebrity’ translator contribute to the eventual performance and the collaborative process of production? This thesis conducts an empirical study on a time-based sample of eight translated plays performed on the mainstream London stage during a three-month period in 2005. The sample comprises direct, indirect and literal translators from a variety of professional backgrounds, and the plays range from Ancient Greek to contemporary Danish. Methodologies include archival investigations and oral histories. Firstly, I scrutinise the physical and economic contexts of the productions, analysing the sites of commission and performance, including a review of funding and management practices. Secondly, I examine the translation procedures of the eight plays, the collaboration of the translation and theatre practitioners and the relation of the translated playtext to the source-language play and earlier translations, where relevant. I consider the terminology presented to the prospective audience as translation, version or adaptation, and review reception. Thirdly, based on my interview research, I discuss the approaches adopted by the practitioners involved in the translation project, from inception to public performance, including producers, directors, literary managers, translators and writers. Finally, I interrogate issues of celebrity and collaboration in two case studies: Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba in an indirect translation by David Hare, and Euripides’ Hecuba in a direct translation by Tony Harrison. I conclude that investigation of the wider aspects of theatre translation results in a re- evaluation of visibility issues. Studying the power-lines of theatrical networks reveals the multiplicity of voices among the agents collaborating in performance, where celebrity is only one of the contextual factors contributing to a staged translation. 4 CONTENTS Plays in Translation on the London Stage: Visibility, Celebrity, Agency and Collaboration .... 1 DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. 3 CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ 4 TABLE OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 10 1.1 The Role of the Translator ....................................................................................... 10 1.2 Theatrical Visibility and Celebrity ............................................................................ 11 1.3 Agency and Collaboration ........................................................................................ 13 1.4 Research Questions.................................................................................................. 16 1.5 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 17 1.6 Literature Review ..................................................................................................... 24 1.7 Mapping the Thesis .................................................................................................. 28 1.8 Mapping Theatre Translation ................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER TWO: LONDON THEATRE - CONTEXTUALIZING THE SITE OF PERFORMANCE ... 30 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 30 2.2 The Society of London Theatre (‘SOLT’) ................................................................... 31 2.3 The Royal National Theatre (‘the National’) ............................................................ 37 2.4 The Royal Court Theatre (‘the Royal Court’) ............................................................ 40 2.5 West End Theatres ................................................................................................... 44 2.6 The Almeida Theatre (‘the Almeida’) ....................................................................... 45 2.7 The Royal Shakespeare Company (‘the RSC’) .......................................................... 49 2.8 The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Theatres (‘the Crucible’) ........................................ 52 2.9 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 54 5 CHAPTER THREE: THE PLAYS AND THEIR TRANSLATION TEAMS ....................................... 56 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 56 3.2 The House of Bernarda Alba .................................................................................... 57 3.3 The UN Inspector ...................................................................................................... 62 3.4 Hedda Gabler ........................................................................................................... 69 3.5 Festen ....................................................................................................................... 76 3.6 Don Carlos ................................................................................................................ 83 3.7 Hecuba ..................................................................................................................... 91 3.8 Way to Heaven ......................................................................................................... 94 3.9 The Woman Before ................................................................................................ 101 3.10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 107 CHAPTER FOUR: THE AGENTS .......................................................................................... 111 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 111 4.2 Artistic Directors .................................................................................................... 113 4.3 Producers ............................................................................................................... 120 4.4 Literary Departments ............................................................................................. 123 4.5 Directors ................................................................................................................. 130 4.6 Indirect Translators ................................................................................................ 135 4.7 Direct Translators ................................................................................................... 141 4.8 Literal Translators .................................................................................................. 147 4.9 Playwrights ............................................................................................................. 155 4.10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 160 CHAPTER FIVE: THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA - TRANSLATION AS POLITICAL METAPHOR ...................................................................................................................... 164 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 164 5.2 La casa de Bernarda Alba: Contemporary Myths and Circumstances ................... 164 5.3 Hare’s The House of Bernarda Alba ....................................................................... 167 5.4 The Voice of the Translator .................................................................................... 172 5.5 Afterlives: the Momentum of Hare’s The House of Bernarda Alba ....................... 187 5.6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 192 CHAPTER SIX: HECUBA - COLLABORATION AND THE TRANSFER OF MEANING .............. 194 6 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 194 6.2 Hecuba in Performance and Translation: Contemporary and Historical Context . 195 6.3 Collaborative Theatre Practices in Translation ...................................................... 201 6.4 Agency