Translating for Performance

Private reading was rare in the ancient world, and most texts, whether poetry or prose, were written to be presented aloud. All translators of ancient languages need to be aware of this, and translators of plays need to consider whether their translations could be used for staged performance or for out-loud reading in class. (To start a classroom discussion, I recommend having students take parts and read a scene.) To translate a performance text as a performance text requires an understanding of performance conventions in both cultures, and places additional demands on the translator, demands that cannot be met by word-for-word translation. Therefore, performance translations do not suit the needs of students who want to know just how the Greek text was constructed. Performance versions can, however, follow the original closely in spirit.

First, a performance text must be clear enough that an audience can follow it just by listening. Sentence structures must not be as complicated as they often are in Greek, because English uses simpler structures than ancient Greek did, and because modern English-speaking audiences are not prepared to decode long complex sentences. So a performance version will alter the punctuation of the original, making sentences shorter and more immediately clear than they would otherwise be.

Second, a performance text must be friendly to performers. Actors must be able to speak the lines effectively. Speakable lines cannot deviate too far from the idiom ofthe language - from the way people commonly speak. Good translators try to avoid the use of ‘‘translatorese,’’ by which they mean a dialect of English used mainly by translators of Greek. ‘‘This being so,’’ is a good example; it translates what grammarians call an absolute expression, something we do not use in idiomatic English. You should not assign such an expression to actors unless you want them to play the part of someone who is formal and pedantic. Speakable lines also need to meet certain conditions of sound. I once used ‘‘shipshape’’ in a translation; it was a good word for the meaning, but a very hard word for an actor to say on stage.

Performance-friendly translation gives the actors and director plenty of clues about the motivations of speakers, and therefore such translations may be more deeply affected by the interpretation of the translator than translations made for other purposes.