THEATRE TRANSLATION CONFERENCE

Drama Studio, University of East Anglia, 29 June-1 July 2007

CALL FOR PAPERS

Contributions are invited for a Theatre Translation Conference:

Staging translated plays: Adaptation, Translation and Multimediality

Invited speakers

Professor David Johnston (Queen’s University Belfast, and theatre 
translator)
Laurence Boswell (Freelance director, and theatre translator)

The conference focuses on the practice of staging translations and 
adaptations of all kinds of drama. We want to explore the links between 
translated texts and performance and open up a discussion on the 
(im?)possibility of defining the relationship between translated text 
and performance. We invite contributors to explore the ways in which 
translations are, or could be, staged and performed, and how the 
translated text is placed in performance practice, in the rehearsal 
room, in collaborative projects between playwrights, directors, 
translators, actors, and so on. Papers will be accompanied or 
intersected by a short performance of illustrative extracts, rehearsed 
readings or film or audio recordings of performances.

Topics will include:

š	The process of staging translations and adaptations
š	The process of writing translations and adaptations for the stage
š	The process of writing/producing/commissioning translations and 
adaptations for a specific theatre company or space
š	Collaboration between practitioners – translators, actors, directors…
š	The (im?)possibility of defining the relationship between text and 
performance
š	The relationship/interaction between critical theory and creative practice
š	Models of practice pedagogy and their resource implications
š	Methodologies for evaluating practice-based research
š	Research-based study via creative practice

The conference aims to foster debate between the academic community and 
the community of practitioners and so we welcome speakers from both 
these fields.

One of our interests is to interrogate the intersection/relationship 
between theory and practice, therefore contributions should be 50 
minutes long (including performed extracts, rehearsed readings or the 
presentation of audiovisual material). Please note that performed 
elements need only be illustrative and small-scale.

Professor Susan Bassnett (University of Warwick) will be chairing a 
panel and the Gate Theatre, London, will be represented at the 
conference. Further details will be posted on the conference website.

We hope to be able to cover the costs of a number of practitioners via 
Arts Council funding and will make the relevant details available on the 
website in due course.

Deadline for contribution: 31 January 2007

Organizing committee

Roger Baines (University of East Anglia), Cristina Marinetti (Warwick 
University), Manuela Perteghella (London Metropolitan University).

Please send abstracts of around 300 words or a short outline of your 
contribution by 31 January 2007 to [log in to unmask]

For queries about contributions, please contact 
[log in to unmask]

For queries about travel, accommodation and other practical information, 
please contact [log in to unmask]

We anticipate that we will be able to increase the number of invited 
speakers and such developments and further information will be posted on 
the conference website at:
www.uea.ac.uk/llt/news_events/staging_translated_plays/welcome.html



-- 
Dr Manuela Perteghella
Lecturer Applied Translation
Department of Humanities, Arts and Languages
London Metropolitan University
Room MG5-15
84 Moorgate
LONDON EC2M 6SQ
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7320 1436