Contemporary Catalan Drama in english: Some aspirations and limitations

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Notes

1. David George and John London, ‘Introduction’, in David George and John London (eds), Contemporary Catalan Theatre: An Introduction, The Anglo-Catalan Society Occasional Publications, 9 (Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Society, 1996), pp. 11–18 (p. 15).

2. See Carles Batlle i Jordà, ‘Apuntes para una valoración de la dramaturgia catalana actual: realismo y perplejidad’, trans. María Zaragoza, Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea, 21 (1996), 253–270; Enric Gallén, ‘De literatura dramàtica catalana, avui’, (Pausa.), 9–10 (September–December 1991), 24–27.

3. Sharon G. Feldman, ‘Homage to Catalan Theater: Introduction’, Estreno, 24:2 (Autumn 1998), 2–4 (p. 2).

4. Kathryn Crameri, ‘The Role of Translation in Contemporary Catalan Culture’, Hispanic Research Journal, 1:2 (June 2000), 171–183.

5. For an approach to Bieito stressing this European perspective with its relevance for Spain, see Maria M. Delgado, ‘Calixto Bieito: A Catalan Director on the International Stage’, TheatreForum, 26 (Winter/Spring 2005), 10–24; Maria M. Delgado, ‘Journeys of Cultural Transference: Calixto Bieito's Multilingual Shakespeares’, Modern Language Review, 101 (2006), 106–150.

6. For a recent survey of the reception of Lorca translations, see Gunilla Anderman, Europe on Stage: Translation and Theatre (London: Oberon Books, 2005), pp. 290–316.

7. Compare the attitude of Christopher Hampton's French translator who changed the ending of Hampton's play The Philanthropist; see Hampton's account in Ranjit Bolt and others, Translation, Platform Papers, 1 ([London]: Royal National Theatre, 1992), unpaginated.

8. The exception is the British exposure given to Excuses! (premiered in Catalan in 2002), written by Joel Joan and Jordi Sànchez, and directed with great skill by David Grindley for the ATC company, in a co-production by Kràmpack and the Soho Theatre. It starred an actress who is quite well known in British television comedy, Doon MacKichan and, after regional showings in November 2003, ran at the Soho Theatre, London from 1 December 2003 until 10 January 2004.

9. For examples of the reception of modern Spanish drama in English, see Derek Gagen, ‘Lope, Lorca and Littlewood: The Reception of Spanish Theatre in the North of England’, in Kenneth Adams, Ciaran Cosgrove and James Whiston (eds), Spanish Theatre: Studies in Honour of Victor F. Dixon, Colección Támesis: Serie A: Monografías, 187 (London: Tamesis, 2001), pp. 27–39; Marion P. Holt, ‘Modern Spanish Drama and the English-Speaking Stage: Fact, Fiction, and Demystification’, Estreno, 14:2 (Autumn 1988), 34–37; Isabel Martínez Moreno, ‘Recepción crítica del teatro español en la prensa inglesa: 1939–1950’, Revista de Literatura, 56 (1994), 129–144; Rosemary Shevlin Weiss, ‘Benavente and Martínez Sierra on Broadway’, Estreno, 14:2 (Autumn 1988), 30–33; Marcia D. Yarmus, ‘New York City Theatrical Productions of Federico García Lorca's Three Tragedies: Blood Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernarda Alba’, Estreno, 14:2 (Autumn 1988), 38–42.

10. For introductions in English to Belbel, see David George and John London, ‘Avant-Garde Drama’, in George and London (eds), Contemporary Catalan Theatre, pp. 73–101 (pp. 91–96); María [sic] M. Delgado and David George, ‘Sergi Belbel (1963 – )’, in Mary Parker (ed.), Modern Spanish Dramatists: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002), pp. 75–85.

11. For a view of this international projection, see Josep M. Benet i Jornet, ‘Sergi Belbel; tot just comença’, in Sergi Belbel, Forasters: melodrama familiar en dos temps (Barcelona: Proa, 2004), pp. 7–18 (pp. 7–12); for a list of translations, see pp. 158–159 of the same volume.

12. Most notably, Lyn Gardner wrote that the text ‘might have been written any time in the last 30 years’; Guardian (4 April 1996), p. 9. For an analysis of the reception of the play, see David George, ‘The Reception of Sergi Belbel's Després de la pluja’, Estreno, 24:2 (Autumn 1998), 50–53.

13. Unpublished box office accounts for After the Rain, Gate Theatre, London, 1996.

14. Anita Gates, New York Times (8 June 1999), http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?-r=28res=9405E4D91339F93BA35755COA96F958260&oref=slogin [accessed 23 June 2006]. One academic critic, taking a somewhat literal stance, attributes the lack of success of the play in the USA to the fact that the proportion of smokers in the country is considerably lower than in Spain. See Norma Frost, ‘Consideraciones sobre la recepción de Sergi Belbel en Alemania’, in Teatro contemporáneo español posfranquista II: autores y tendencias (Berlin: edition tranvía-Verlag Walter Frey, 2002), pp. 99–106 (p. 102).

15. Time Out (New York) (27 May–3 June 1999), p. 170.

16. Sergi Belbel, After the Rain, trans. David George, John London and Xavier Rodríguez Rosell, in Klaus Chatten and Sergi Belbel, Sugar Dollies and After the Rain (London: Methuen Drama, 1996), pp. 85–178. This translation is of the first Catalan version. Belbel later rewrote parts of the play, especially the ending. A translation of the second version was offered to the directors of the UK and US productions, although they preferred to use the translation of the original version.

17. Michael Billington, Guardian (4 February 1999), p. 2.

18. The quotation is taken from the publicity card for the show issued by Mammoth Productions, London, 1999. For the critical comparisons of reviewers, see Dominic Cavendish, Independent (Review section) (17 February 1999), p. 11; Patrick Marmion, Evening Standard (4 February 1999), p. 48. The translation, by Sharon Feldman, was published the following year in John London and David George (eds), Modern Catalan Plays (London: Methuen, 2000), pp. 175–238.

19. For the published text, see Sergi Belbel, Caresses, trans. John London, in Elyse Dodgson and Mary Peate (eds), Spanish Plays (London: Nick Hern Books, 1999), pp. 1–54.

20. For the figures, see Esther Peramau, ‘Carícies, de Sergi Belbel’, in Manuel Aznar Soler (ed.), Veinte años de teatro y democracia en España (1975–1995) (Barcelona: Cop d'Idees and CITEC, 1996), pp. 177–181 (p. 178). A student production was staged at St Andrews University in Scotland in 2001.

21. On the reception of the first production, see Peramau, ‘Carícies', p. 178. For positive North American reactions, see Joanne Huffa, Eye (10 May 2001), p. 45; Anon., Now (10–16 May 2001), p. 89; Seth Duerr, fringenyc 2003 review, pp. 4–5, in http://www.nytheatre.com/fringeweb/review13.htm [accessed 21 August 2003].

22. Helen Thomson, The Age (9 August 2004), http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/06/1091732072723.html [accessed 12 August 2004]; Alison Croggon, Theatre Notes (7 August 2004) http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com/2004/08/caresses.html [accessed 27 September 2006]. The director of this Australian production, Scott Gooding, has also directed After the Rain (2005).

23. On Belbel's refusal to indicate names and, at this time, specific situations in his plays, see his comments in Sharon Feldman, ‘Dos conversaciones con Sergi Belbel: “que me gusten La Fura dels Baus y Molière no es una contradicción”’, Assaig de Teatre, 12–14 (September–December 1998), 219–237 (p. 235).

24. For the original location, see Sergi Belbel, Carícies, Els Llibres de l'Escorpí: Teatre/El Galliner, 127 (Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1992), p. 13. On the film in comparison to the play, see David George, ‘From Stage to Screen: Sergi Belbel and Ventura Pons’, Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea, 27 (2002), 89–102.

25. Letter from Sergi Belbel to John London, July 1999.

26. Josep Maria Benet i Jornet, Desig, Teatre, 24 (Valencia: Tres i Quatre, 1991), p. 33; Desire, trans. Sharon Feldman, in London and George (eds), Modern Catalan Plays, pp. 105–174 (p. 109).

27. Publicity card, Trumpet Vine Theatre Company, Arlington, VA, 2004.

28. ‘News Release’, http://www.trumpetvinetheatrecompany.org/press1.html [accessed 3 April 2006].

29. E-mail communication from Sharon Feldman to John London, 21 March 2006.

30. Matt Reville, Arlington Sun Gazette (7 October 2004), p. 14.

31. The actors felt that the use of British English had helped them capture the rhythm of Benet's language. Information about the actors' reactions was kindly supplied by Sharon Feldman.

32. José Sanchis Sinisterra talks of a division between ‘unconditional acceptance and total rejection’, in ‘Una poètica de la sostracció’, in Lluïsa Cunillé, Accident, Biblioteca Teatral, 92 (Barcelona: Institut del Teatre de la Diputació de Barcelona, 1996), pp. 5–12 (p. 7). For a survey of views on Cunillé, see Xavier Puchades, ‘Cunillé, mapa de sombras’, (Pausa.), 20 (January 2005), 16–31.

33. For example, see Marcos Ordóñez, A pie de obra: escritos sobre teatro (Barcelona: Alba Editorial, 2003), pp. 126–128.

34. Lluïsa Cunillé and David Greig, The Meeting, trans. John London and The Speculator (London: Methuen, 1999), back cover.

35. For examples, see Pablo Ley, El País (national edition) (2 July 1999), p. 54; G. [Gonzalo] P. [Pérez] de O. [Olaguer], El Periódico de Catalunya (5 July 1999), p. 33; María-José Ragué-Arias, El Mundo (5 July 1999), p. 45. An exception are the comments of Joaquim Noguero who compares La cita unfavourably with Mamet and Pinter: Avui (6 July 1999), p. 44.

36. Programme for La cita and David Greig's L'especulador, Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona, 1999.

37. Mark Fisher, The Herald (18 August 1999), p. 17; John Peter, Sunday Times[Culture section] (22 August 1999), p. 16; Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph (18 August 1999), p. 17.

38. Guardian: G2 (18 August 1999), p. 13.

39. Joyce McMillan, untitled article, Edinburgh Festival July 1999 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Festival, 1999), pp. 21–22 (p. 21).

40. Letter from Lluïsa Cunillé to John London, 28 April 1999.

41. Cunillé, The Meeting, pp. 126, 161.

42. Harold Pinter, The Room, in Plays: One (London: Methuen, 1976), pp. 99–126 (pp. 109, 122, 126); The Homecoming, in Plays: Three (London: Methuen, 1978), pp. 19–98 (p. 24); Betrayal, in Plays: Four (London: Methuen, 1981), pp. 155–268 (pp. 167, 170, 234).

43. Figure from Susie Burnet, Senior Press and PR Officer of the Edinburgh International Festival, in e-mail communication to John London, 11 July 2006.

44. Carles Batlle i Jordà, Suite (Barcelona: Proa, 2001), p. 31.

45. On this subject, see the insightful articles by Sharon Feldman: ‘Catalunya invisible: Contemporary Drama in Barcelona’, Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, 6 (2002), 269–287; ‘Of Appearance and Disappearance: Theatre and Barcelona (Catalunya invisible, Part II)’, Special Issue on Barcelona and modernity, Brad Epps (ed.), Catalan Review, 13:1/2 (2004), 161–180.

46. For details, see Josep Benet, L'intent franquista de genocidi cultural contra Catalunya, 2nd edn (Barcelona: Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, 1995).

47. Crameri, ‘The Role’, p. 179.

48. See Hèctor Moret and Artur Quintina, ‘La literatura en català a l'Aragó: els darrers vint anys’, in Axel Schönberger and Tilbert Dídac Stegmann (eds), Actes del desè col.loqui internacional de llengua i literatura catalanes, 2 vols (Barcelona: Associació Internacional de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes/Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, 1995–96), I (1995), pp. 391–403 (p. 403).

49. Jaume Melendres, ‘Una generació mutant’, (Pausa.), 9–10 (September–December 1991), 28–30 (p. 28).

50. See John London, ‘What is Catalan Drama?: Language and Identity in Contemporary Catalan Theater: 1939–96’, Estreno, 24:2 (Autumn 1998), 6–13.

51. For a detailed analysis, see Kathryn A. Woolard, ‘Codeswitching and Comedy in Catalonia’, in Monica Heller (ed.), Codeswitching: Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives, Contributions to the Sociology of Language, 48 (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1988), pp. 53–76.

52. José María Rodríguez Méndez, Flor de Otoño. Bodas que fueron famosas del Pingajo y la Fandanga, ed. José Martín Recuerda, Letras Hispánicas, 104 (Madrid: Cátedra, 1995). All the Catalan dialogue was removed from the 1978 film version of the play (Un hombre llamado Flor de Otoño, directed by Pedro Olea) and a Madrid production in 2005.

53. See Maria M. Delgado, ‘Other’ Spanish Theatres: Erasure and Inscription on the Twentieth-Century Spanish Stage (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003), pp. 263–264; ‘Maria Delgado in Barcelona’, Plays International, 21:5–6 (Spring 2006), 46–47.

54. José María Rodríguez Méndez, Autumn Flower, trans. Marion Peter Holt, Estreno Contemporary Spanish Plays, 20 (New Brunswick, NJ: ESTRENO Plays, 2001). On this translation and general translation problems to do with bilingualism, see Phyllis Zatlin, Theatrical Translation and Film Adaptation: A Practitioner's View, Topics in Translation, 29 (Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2005), pp. 103–122.

55. See John Corbett and Bill Findlay (eds), Serving Twa Maisters: Five Classic Plays in Scots Translation (Glasgow: Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 2005). My translation of Cunillé's The Meeting was commissioned to be acted in Scotland by Scottish actors, although none wanted to change my text for regional accents or wording. Besides, we have seen how the author wished the lack of topographical specificity to be conveyed by UK equivalents.

56. Bernhard Suphan (ed.), Herders sämmtliche Werke, 33 vols (Berlin: Weidmann, 1877–1913), I (1877), pp. 400–406.

57. Enric Prat de la Riba, Obra completa, ed. Albert Balcells and Josep Maria Ainaud de Lasarte, 3 vols (Barcelona: Edicions Proa/Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 1998–2000), I: 1887–1898 (1998), pp. 413–428. This article was incorporated into Prat de la Riba's famous manifesto of Catalan nationalism, La nacionalitat catalana, published in 1906.

58. Victor Hugo, La Préface de ‘Cromwell’, ed. Maurice Souriau, 7th edn (Paris: Société Française d'Imprimerie et de Librairie, 1911), pp. 265–266.

59. For these references and the differences between the two versions, see Samuel Beckett, Happy Days/Oh les beaux jours, ed. James Knowlson (London: Faber and Faber, 1978), pp. 118–121, 132 n. 24, 133 n. 33, 134 n. 38, 143 n. 7, 144 n. 14.

60. E-mail communication from Ignasi Garcia to John London, 27 March 2006.

61. Pep Blay, ‘Entrevista: Sergi Belbel’, Avui Diumenge (24 February 1991), pp. 6–7 (p. 6).

62. On the absence of folkloric language, see Frost, ‘Consideraciones’, p. 100.

63. Letter from Sergi Belbel to John London, 20 July 1993. The other play he wrote in Spanish is La boca cerrada.

64. E-mail communication from Sergi Belbel to John London, 23 June 2006.

65. The same could be said of academic opinion. One detailed German assessment of his work mentions that Belbel first writes his plays in Catalan, but it then goes on to refer only to the Spanish versions. See Wilfried Floeck, Spanisches Gegenwartstheater, 2 vols, Mainzer Forschungen zu Drama und Theater, 17–18 (Tübingen: Francke, 1997), I: Eine Einführung, pp. 166–183.

66. Rodolf Sirera, The Audition, trans. John London, in London and George (eds), Modern Catalan Plays, pp. 73–103. Subsequent productions took place in Dublin (1990) and Edinburgh (1992). On the problems encountered in translating this text see John London, ‘Theatrical Poison: Translating for the Stage’, in Peter Fawcett and Owen Heathcote (eds), Translation in Performance: Papers on the Theory and Practice of Translation, Bradford Occasional Papers, 10 (Bradford: Department of Modern Languages, University of Bradford, 1990), pp. 141–167.

67. Antoni Prats and Rodolf Sirera, ‘Rodolf Sirera parla de les seues obres dramàtiques’, L'Aiguadolç, 2 (Spring 1986), 9–17 (p. 15). Other work by Sirera, even from the 1970s, is often considered superior to El verí del teatre, although it has not been translated and thus has had limited exposure. See Rafael del Rosario Pérez González, Guia per recórrer Rodolf Sirera, Monografies de Teatre, 35 (Barcelona: Institut del Teatre de la Diputació de Barcelona, 1998), pp. 99–104.

68. See Susan Bassnett, Translation Studies, 3rd edn (London: Routledge, 2002), pp. 124–131.

69. Jacek Laskowski, ‘Translating the Famous Dead, the Dead Obscure, and the Living’, in David Johnston (ed.), Stages of Translation (Bath: Absolute Press, 1996), pp. 187–198 (pp. 188–189).

70. Paul Taylor, Independent (5 December 2003) http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/theatre/reviews/article81164.ece [accessed 31 October 2006].

71. The role of directors is also crucial. Perhaps only this can explain why Belbel, for all his linguistic innovation and stylistic idiosyncrasies, has in Poland been associated with ‘new brutalists’ such as the British playwrights Sarah Kane and Mark Ravenhill. See Sanja Nikčević, ‘British Brutalism, the “New European Drama”, and the Role of the Director’, New Theatre Quarterly, 21 (2005), 255–272 (p. 267).

72. This attitude to translation has important precedents, from the Romantics' notion of an artificial language for translated literature to Benjamin's stress on a target language's being affected by the source language and, more recently, Venuti's insistence that a translation should reveal itself to be a translation. See Bassnett, Translation Studies, pp. 69–75; Walter Benjamin, Gesammelte Schriften, eds Rolf Tiedemann and Hermann Schweppenhäuser, 7 vols (Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp, 1972–89), IV, ed. Tillman Rexroth (1972), pp. 9–22; Lawrence Venuti, The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference (London: Routledge, 1998). I point out the dangers of unidiomatic translation for the stage in London, ‘Theatrical Poison’.

73. Alberto Miralles et al, ‘Encuesta con los dramaturgos catalanes que escriben en castellano’, Estreno, 5:2 (Autumn 1979), 9–14, 23–24.

74. Joaquim Noguero, ‘Teatre català: d'on cap a on?: taula rodona a la Sala Beckett amb Carles Batlle, Francesc Massip, Magda Puyo, Ricard Salvat i Ramon Simó’, Faig Arts, 38 (November 1998), 27–41 (pp. 39–40).

75. On this kind of drama, see María-José Ragué-Arias, ¿Nuevas dramaturgias?: (Los autores de fin de siglo en Cataluña, Valencia y Baleares) (Madrid: Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música, Centro de Documentación Teatral, 2000), pp. 111–135.

76. Josep Maria Benet i Jornet, Olors (Barcelona: Proa, 2000).

77. Belbel has admitted the location; see Eva Comas, ‘La Barcelona de ficció’, (Pausa.), 20 (January 2005), 41–54 (p. 43). For the play text, see Belbel, Forasters.

78. On the ideology behind this season, see the articles by Toni Casares: ‘L'acció té lloc a Barcelona?’ and ‘Un cicle de teatre local a la Sala Beckett’, (Pausa.), 20 (January 2005), 34–36, 36–37.

79. Lluïsa Cunillé and Pau Miró, Barcelona, mapa d'ombres and Plou a Barcelona, En Cartell, 8 (Barcelona: RE&MA 12, 2004), pp. 7–66. Ventura Pons completed a film adaptation of the play in 2007 with a cast including Núria Espert and Josep Maria Pou.

80. Carles Batlle, ‘La realitat i el joc: dues idees a propòsit de la nova escriptura: la “literaturització de l'experiència” i la distinció mal resolta entre “particularització” i “localisme”’, (Pausa.), 20 (January 2005), 67–74 (p. 71). See also Batlle's article in this issue of CTR, ‘Contemporary Catalan Theatre. Between the Desert and the Promised Land', 416–424 (p. 421).

81. The Groundling, ‘International Court’, Writernet Bulletin, 6:2 (May 2004), 9–11.

82. The plays are Mercè Sarrias, An Absent Look, trans. John London, initially commissioned in 1997 and then in a revised form in 1998, in Montserrat Roser i Puig (ed.), A Female Scene: Three Plays by Catalan Women (Nottingham: Five Leaves/Anglo-Catalan Society, 2007); Juli Disla, Swimming Pool, trans. John London, commissioned in 2000, subsequently given a small production at Mountview Academy, London in 2005 (Warrington: New Theatre Publications, 2005).

83. Mention has already been made of the production of Excuses! at the Soho Theatre in 2003–04. The director Laurence Boswell has worked on a version of El mètode Grönholm (2004), by Jordi Galceran, translated by David George, with the aim of staging a major production in London.

84. I am grateful to the following for their help with this article: Sergi Belbel, Josep Maria Benet i Jornet, Lluïsa Cunillé, Maria M. Delgado, Sharon Feldman, Ignasi Garcia, David George and Susana Lorenzo.