On the Temporality and Simultaneity of Translation of Dramatic Texts

Participants Katja Zakrajšek, Živa Čebulj and Eva Mahkovic

Moderator Iztok Ilc

In the 2023/24 theatre season, the audience had the unique opportunity to observe two different translations through two productions. The two works were Tony Kushner's Angels in America (Mladinsko Theatre, translator Katja Zakrajšek, and the Mini Theatre, translator Miha Avanzo, both of which are in the Maribor Theatre Festival competition programme) and Jean-Paul Sartre's Doors Wide Closed (Ljubljana City Theatre, translator Eva Mahkovic, and Celje City Theatre, translator Živa Čebulj).

The central theme of the roundtable will be the confrontation of different translation approaches, along with the direct experience of adapting the translation according to the reactions of the creators of the performance(s) when studying the text. In doing so, the translator is confronted with questions of what it means to translate for the theatre, to translate for a performance, to translate for a team that will uniquely enter the world that was established by the author through the translator. Is it a negotiation, some kind of a romantic relationship, collective creativity or something else?

The event is part of the programme of literary events co-financed by the Slovenian Book Agency.