During our relatively short existence Imploding Fictions has been submitted to a sort of crash-course to the joys and trials of international touring…From fragile props being balanced on the roof a Cairo taxi and sped off into the battleground of Egyptian traffic to Oystein being arrested at the airport for the possession of (prop) guns. We have developed a thick skin.But the last weeks have brought on a challenge of a different kind: The translation of Hamletmachine’s press material from English into Italian as well as the deciphering of contracts for its guest performance in Rome. Between the two of us we have four and a half or so languages at our disposal, but Italian not being one of them meant we had to seek exterior help. So here we humbly offer a piece of advice to anyone who is put into the position of having to make an on the spot translation into an alien language: DON’T USE BABELFISH. Babelfish is as useless as a glass eye at a keyhole. After rendering our press materials through it and submitting it to our Italian friends we got the polite reply: …yes could you send this in Italian? Idea for a postmodern performance: take Hamlet. Babelfish the entire play into Chinese. Then Babelfish the result back into English. Perform it. May cryptic analyses and academic praise be showered upon you. Although you could find that Heiner Müller has been there before you.
In a double pronged mission I was given the contract, Ø the publicity stuff and our quest for the day was to get a decent translation.Rather than tearing your hair out over babelfish, I found it an infinitely better strategy to have a relaxed breakfast at an Italian Café. I sought out my local Panini-place in Bexley armed with the relevant documents and strode bravely towards the counter. The guy behind it turns around (arms covered in pizza dough and emitting a gruff: Buongiorno ) and I figure this isn’t the right context in which to bring up translation and legal documents (I do have some sense of tact) so instead I take my place at a table and on receiving my Latte Macchiato took the charming waiter’s: “Is there anything else I can do for you sir?” at face value by responding: “Well, actually yes, I’ve got three pages of tightly written, Italian legalistic prose here which I’d like you to translate for me.” The response was: “I’ll send out my wife.” And that was that.
Øystein (in true directorial fashion) got others to work for him. His flatmate, an irish costume mistress got her Italian colleague roped in whilst all around them the french revolution was in full blaze: Dressing and undressing the late and annoyed cast of “Les Mis”as prostitutes and violent students, already two bars late (“Can you hear the people sing?”, “Nope. Can you?”), whilst at the same time reconstructing in Italian our dense outpourings about Hamletmachine and Imploding Fictions…Anyway: the organizational groundwork has now been done: documents translated, lighting plans drawn up and posters printed… and in just over a week we’re off to Rome!
TheHamletmachine is being performed at the Festival Premio Claudio Gora at Laboratorium Teatro in Rome on the 13th December at 9pm. You can read more under the following links:
http://www.assclaudiogora.it/IIIedizione_premio_claudio_gora.html
http://www.laboratoriumteatro.it/III_Ed_premio_gora2006.html
www.implodingfictions.com
- Philip