Speak beyond language
Translations
Comissions
English Language
Translations
A different language is a different vision of life.
Theory, History & Manifestos
LA COALITION DE LA ROBE
By Marie-Claude Garneau, Marie-Ève Milot & Marie-Claude St-Laurent | Translated by Rhiannon Collett
They appeared from the shadows, in their arms their stillborn dreams & characters. Make way for LA COALITION DE LA ROBE! This interdisciplinary document records the writers’ political awakening in a collection of scenes, essays and manifestos., And their discovery of a heritage not taught in school – the works of Quebecois women.
Contemporary Adult
5 Faces of Camille Brunelle
By Guillaume Corbeil
Translated by Jack Paterson
UK & EU English Language Translation
Five online personalities create their tastes, their knowledge, and what they have seen, thought, experienced or imagined in a battle to define their personalities and place in the world.
Recipient of the Prix Michel-Tremblay,
Le Prix De La Critique: Outstanding New Text (Montreal, CAN), and Audience Choice Award, Primeurs Festival (Saarbrücken, Germany)
And if one night
By Lisa L’Heureux
Translated Mishka Lavigne
In a grey apartment building, in a fragmented dream, 4 characters dive into the hushed zones of human intimacy. Recipient of the Prix littéraire Trillium and the Prix Rideau.
“Modern and poetic…four characters whose desire for true human contact seeks to transcend the virtuality of screens” – ici.radio-canada.ca
Antigone in the Spring
By Nathalie Boisvert
Translated by Hugh Hazelton
In this contemporary reimagining – in a city of now and myth – Antigone and her brothers, are swept up in the popular revolution. Each must chooses a side.
“The Antigone of Nathalie Boisvert’s beautiful text is so close to us…It’s impossible not to feel the contemporary resonance.” – Sorstu.ca
The Desert
By Olivier Sylvestre | Translated by Leanna Brodie
A winter night. A man speaks to you, from the other side of the bed. He speaks of a dream he has every night. He speaks to you from the pit in his stomach, the void that fills him. He tells you why he cannot stay.
FACELIFT
By Nathalie Boisvert | Translated by Johanna Nutter
First the foundation, then the eyes and finally the mouth… the daily activity of applying make-up turns into a examination a woman’s life, her ideals of beauty & seduction, ageing and women’s freedom.
A brand new work, Facelift was featured at TEAMTHEATER TANKSTELLE e.V (Munich).
The Hardings
By Alexia Bürger | Translated by Alexis Diamond
A Quebecois railway worker, an American insurance salesman and a New Zealander researcher have seemingly nothing in common but their name – Thomas Harding. One night, a train derails and the invisible tracks that connect these three existences begin to reveal themselves.
“…an enormously powerful and touching piece…” – Mazrou
Mall
By Emmanuelle Jimenez
Translated by Johanna Nutter
Buy! Buy! Buy! Seven women of divers background and ages dive desperately into a whirlwind of outrageous consumption.
“This is one of the best texts of the new season… A hard-hitting play by Emmanuelle Jimenez.” – La Presse +
Seeker
By Marie-Claude Verdier
Translated by Alexis Diamond
Lomond is a Seeker. He reads, sees and feels the memories of others for the police. This time, though, it’s different. He’s on a top secret mission for the Space Force…and his ex.
Can science and whiskey save the day?
A new work by a leading new quebecois playwright, Seeker premiered at Festival de lectures publiques Dramaturgies en Dialogue.
Still Life
By Marie-Ève Milot & Marie-Claude St-Laurent | Translated by Rhiannon Collett
On her 30th birthday a woman locks herself in her apartment. Paralysed by fear, she examines the shards of her life in a poetic and raw portrait of anxiety disorders.
“…the revival of Quebec’s feminist theatre, a vibrant homage to art, and the woman’s place to challenge everything” – Le Devoir
Theatre for Youth Audiences
KIWI
By Daniel Danis
Translated by Jack Paterson
Kiwi is 12 years old. Abandoned on the city streets she meets a gang of homeless youth. As the authorities clear the streets, she learns how to survive: to run, to fly…to dream.
Recipient of the PRIX LOUISE-LAHAYE and The Cole Foundation Award for Emerging Translators.
ROBIN & MARION
By Étienne Lepage
Translated by Bobby Theodore
In this contemporary take on the french fable, while the adults sleep, the young in the forest chasing each other like beasts. Love, revenge, confusion. A voyage to the end of night and desire.
“An explosion of youhfull passion…it’s pure, super charged with sensation… beautiful written…” – On aura tout vu, 98,5 FM
A SEX EDUCATION GUIDE FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
By Olivier Sylvestre
Translated by Bobby Theodore
An exploration of young desire and the confusion of sexual fluidity. 17-year-old So and Oli swear to make love by a thistle after graduation. Then Ben appears.
This play was shortlisted for le prix SACD de la dramaturgie francophone.
Tales of the Snow
By Philippe Soldevila | Translated by Leanna Brodie
For 8 and Up
In the generation sequal to of award winning Contes de la lune, young Octavio just wants to play hockey. His father’s stories, a victim of the Spanish civil war, are of no interest to him until his grandmother shows him a path.
“I’m born of Quebec, my feet in the snow. My parents come from a nation of the sun. They’re hard to understand, these travelers with their funny accents from somewhere else.” – Phillipe Soldevila
Tales of the Sun
By Philippe Soldevila | Translated by Leanna Brodie
For 8 & Up
The final chapter of Soldevilla’s immigration trilogy, Octavio’s son Etienne (10), and his great grandmother, go on a tour of two continents, and four generations. From Spain to Quebec, from 1917 to 2017.
“A touching play on family, separation and resilience.” – ICI Radio-Canada
Creative Translation
“Elegent, essential and poetic…”
THE VANCOUVER SUN (Canada)
Translation for theatre falls into the profesional translation category of “Creative Translation”. Unlike “Literal” or “Document Translation”, Creative Translation is not the word for word substitution of the source text in a new language. Instead, it focuses on using the source text as a point of reference to create a new equally compelling product in the target language.
Being ‘faithful’ to the original source means creating a similar impact on the new audience in the target culture.
It’s also a uniquely collaborative art form; one where the collaborators – the playwright and translator – embody the cultures and languages of the original and target populations.
To fully appreciate the challenges to advancing creative translation for theatre, consider the barriers identified at Montreal’s Jamais Lu Festival, 2019:
- Inability to access contemporary material in a timely fashion by Artistic Directors & Producers due to language and distance barriers
- Historic animosity/ misunderstanding between cultures
- A perception the other is too “different” or “weird”
BTC tackles these challenges with a network of translators connected to the contemporary French scene. Committed to supporting translators from commission to final publication and/or production.
1. Commission and Translation
When translating for theatre, a translator employs professional techniques, innovative writing, a wide knowledge of the live performing arts, and a deep understanding of the target cultural nuances.
A translator is faced with many choices beyond words. These range from setting, location, names, when and how information is given, to creating entirely new contexts, new rhythms, speech patterns, poetic structures (an ex. in English to non-English translation – Iambic Pentameter is unique to English language and does not work in non-English languages – what are the options are there to capture that essence?), alliteration, metaphors, taking invented words from the original text and crafting new words of similar feeling. It is not uncommon for whole new scenes, scenarios, text and frameworks to be created.
2. Cross-Cultural Collaboration
Theatre is a collaborative art form and creative translation for theatre is no different. For creative translators to do their best work it’s crucial to provide them with a close collaboration with the original language playwright and the support of a dramaturg with specific knowledge of translation.
This cross-cultural collaboration between playwright and translator is essential for the translator to understanding personal and artistic objectives, motivations, choices, and textures of the playwright (why this like this?), cultural and lived experience understandings unique to the original playwright’s location, class, heritage, gender, identity, etc. in and of the playwright’s culture.
3. Dramaturgy
Just as in the development of any new creation, the support of a dramaturg is essential to this process. In theatrical translation, the dramaturg forges the critical link between translator and playwright. They work with the artists to hone their vision, focus their goals and find outlets for their creative work. A “translation specific” dramaturg will come with a deep knowledge of literary, performing arts practices, and cultures of both languages.
4. Development Workshops
The workshop process with actors is designed to meet the specific needs of each specific translation and evolves the project. Led by a dramaturg in collaboration with the translator & playwright, the translation is read by a company of actors allowing the translator & playwright to hear the text aloud, receive feedback, and to examine and explore questions with the company.
The workshop public reading is designed to engage the participating audience as part of the ongoing exploration of the work. They offer an opportunity for the playwright/creator and dramaturg to experience the audience’s real-time response- is the humour working, are they engaged in story, does the poetic structure function, etc.
Our public readings include a moderated feedback session/ discussion follows the public presentation of the work in progress, specific community invited guests related to content, and a cross cultural Q&A with the translator and playwright introducing them and their works to the English language communities.
To further bind artists across “solitudes”, we partner each workshop with an English language organization whose mandate fits text content.
5. Dissemination
Texts developed are shared with Lit. Departments, directors, and dramaturgs of our national and international networks.