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The playwright, Leslie Kaplan, was gracious enough not only to invite me to meet her in her home tucked up on a hill near the Pantheon, but to read my translation and share her feedback. That spring, I traveled to the South of France to attend a production of another one of her plays from the Louise trilogy, where I saw the abstract ideas on the page embodied. Leslie set an incredibly high bar for my collaborative relationships with future francophone authors, and I am eternally grateful for this initiation into the world of translation. When I returned to the United States for my senior year of college, a student theatre company I ran with a couple friends staged my translation of Louise, she\u2019s crazy<\/em>, and it was the most radical thing I\u2019ve ever had a hand in creating.<\/p>\n In the years since, I\u2019ve translated fourteen more plays from French into English. Every play has brought its own opportunities and learnings, and many of them have forged lasting collaborative relationships with like-minded artists. Most of them have been commissions from French theatres and festivals, such as L\u2019Alliance New York<\/span><\/a> (formerly FIAF), Princeton University\u2019s Seuls en Sc\u00e8ne<\/span><\/a> French theater festival, the City University of New York\u2019s Caribbean Theatre Project<\/span><\/a>, the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Raymond Kabbaz<\/span><\/a> in Los Angeles, and Sibikwa Arts Centre<\/span><\/a> in South Africa. A few commissions came directly from playwrights, including Alain Foix, Eva Doumbia, and Sedef Ecer. Some plays have received staged readings, several have been published, and a full production of Eva Doumbia\u2019s <\/span>Autophagies (Self-Eaters)<\/span><\/em> toured the United States in 2023.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n One of the greatest strengths of the theatre in translation niche in the United States is the generosity of our collectives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Translation creates a throughline between worlds and fosters relationships; and immersing myself in theatre in translation communities has not only improved my understanding of theatrical craft, but also world history and global politics. Throughout this series, Translators on Theatre: In Our Own Words, fellow theatre translators will share their perspectives on the most pressing issues and promising initiatives within our field. There is no singular journey\u2014language is so personal\u2014and making sense of one\u2019s place in the broader cultural ecosystem requires interactions with multicultural, intergenerational community. Luckily, one of the greatest strengths of the theatre in translation niche in the United States is the generosity of our collectives.<\/p>\n My journey through theatrical translation has been bolstered\u2014even made possible\u2014by the strength of networks such as the Fence<\/span><\/a>, founded by Jonathan Meth in 2003. Neil Blackadder and Adam Vers\u00e9nyi\u2019s contribution to this series, an essay on advocacy strategies to bring increased visibility to theatre in translation, includes several other collectives available to theatre translators. Jennifer Croft writes in her excellent translator-centric novel, The Extinction of Irena Rey<\/span><\/em><\/a>, \u201cTranslators always have these networks, not like writers. Writers compete.\u201d This resonates with my own experience, having cut my teeth on both playwriting and translating plays. I only found my theatrical home once I got into a room full of people who also felt like they never belonged in one place. People who felt most comfortable in the in-between, making sense of the liminal space, inviting others to travel with them between languages, cultures, and realities. Who couldn\u2019t be confined to one theatrical tradition, who shared a sense of dramatic wanderlust, a restlessness in their creative spirit. Language is an imperfect portal, but it\u2019s a portal, nonetheless.<\/p>\n Questioning my own linguistic choices has taught me to see with others\u2019 eyes and hear with others\u2019 ears, which has improved not only my translation skills but also my writing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
Translation Collectives and Networks<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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