Translating Wallace

Dominique Hollier

pp. 215-217

in: Scott T. Cummings, Erica Stevens Abbitt (eds), The theatre of Naomi Wallace, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Abstract

Translating for the stage is more like acting than writing. Whether through the voice and body of the actor or the other language of the translator, it's a matter of understanding the essence of the characters and language, making them your own, and delivering them so as to convey in the best possible way the thoughts, feelings, and music of the playwright. It's a matter of showing what the words do, rather than what they are. I myself am not a writer. I am an actress, and I have always considered my translating work to be very close to that of an actor.