As part of its Arab Arts Focus program, D-CAF will host a Theatre in Translation Seminar addressing the intricacies of translating theatre texts into Arabic. Should the text be translated into Modern Standard Arabic for speakers of different dialects to understand? Or should they be translated into specific dialects to spark connection and familiarity between the reader and the text? What about artistically? Does the translator need to be aware of theatre as a discipline to maintain the text’s spirit? What gets lost, and what is gained throughout this process of translation? How can a text have several lives in different languages, but maintain its authenticity?
The seminar will launch Theatre in Translation – Contemporary European Theatre in Arabic, the first project to be published by the Contemporary Theatre House for Publishing and Distribution, a subsidiary of Orient Productions. The project aims to translate eighteen contemporary European plays from different countries over the course of three years.
We are happy to announce the launch of the first round of texts, including: Oil, written by Lukas Bärfuss (Switzerland); Every Brilliant Thing, written by Duncan Macmillan (UK); Sopro, written by Tiago Rodrigues (Portugal); My Cold Room, written by Joël Pommerat (France); Jackie, written by Elfriede Jelinek (Austria); A Little Money, written by Sirkku Peltola (Finland).
The texts will be available online and in print.
English 
Arabic