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What is the link between Août, un repas à la campagne, Lentement la beauté and Porc-épic, three shows presented by Théâtre la Seizième from 2008 to 2012? Each was translated from French to English by Maureen Labonté. Dramaturg, teacher and translator, this accomplished woman has translated over 35 plays over the course of her career.
1. How does someone become a translator for the theatre?
I became a translator during the eighties when I was directing a play for young audiences in Ottawa. During a trip to Quebec, I saw a Suzanne Lebeau play that I just adored. I’m bilingual and I wanted anglophones to know about this amazing script. So I became a translator. As with me, the majority of translators in the theatre have had some kind of training or career in theatre. You can study translation in university, but very few translators in the theatre world have gone that route.
2. What is the difference between translating for the theatre and traditional translation?
Plays are scripts that are written to be acted rather than heard. If you want to do justice to a play, it’s important to understand actors and the elements of good storytelling. Translating theatre takes a certain flair, which develops, in my opinion, by working in the theatre world.
3. Could you translate any play or do you need to have some kind of affinity for the writer’s work?
In theory, an experienced translator can translate anything. Personally, I find that it’s helpful to like the script, to be moved by the story, and to feel something for the characters. A good translation has to transmit emotion. And it’s easier to do when that emotion comes naturally. Since I don’t only do translation – I only translate two or three plays a year – I have the luxury of choosing the scripts I translate. I work on plays that turn me on.
4. What seduced you in David Paquet’s Porc-épic?
I met David at the National Theatre School, where I was his teacher. He’s someone for whom I have a lot of respect and with whom I’ve stayed in touch. In 2010, his script was produced by Théâtre Pàp at Espace Go. I saw the show and I came out of there completely enthralled. I called David and we started working. It was such a pleasure to translate a script with so much precision. David is a playwright’s playwright. He knows exactly why he is saying what he is saying and where he wants to go.
5. Did you encounter any specific problems when translating Porc-épic?
Porc-épic is a comedy and translating comedy is always a challenge. Humour is culturally specific. Something that makes a francophone laugh doesn’t necessary make an anglophone laugh. You have to find a bridge between the cultures so that, when all is said and done, the audience laughs at the same moments, whether the script is in English or French. I must say that the lion’s share of the work rests with the actors. As a translator, I supply them with the amusing word or expression that they must then use to get the desired reaction.
Another idiosyncrasy of David’ script is that his universe skirts the line between the real and the surreal. I had to recreate this delicate balance while keeping in mind that, in English theatre, absurdist theatre is much less common. At the same time, the script is very, very precise. Uncluttered. As a translator, I have to honour that. You have to translate not only the meaning and the tone, but also the beauty of the language.
6. When you’re translating a play, what is your relationship to the playwright? In what way(s) do you collaborate?
Normally, I write a first draft that I share with the playwright during a face-to-face meeting. I ask for more detail and I try to ensure that we share a similar understanding of the script. Then I rework the translation using the information I’ve gathered. When I finish the following draft, I go over it, scene by scene, with the playwright. That’s when we polish the script. I love doing that. With David Paquet, an intelligent person with a thorough knowledge of English, we pushed our ideas regarding Porc-Épic as far as we could, and it was very stimulating. The last step consists of hearing the translation as a public reading or with actors in a workshop setting. That’s the real test: if the actors are capable of saying the words with ease, that means you did your job. Hearing the script also allows for additional adjustments. It’s such an important step, and yet it’s not always available. David and I knew we were lucky when we got a workshop for the script at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton.
7. In your opinion, does the fact that Canada has two official languages create a particular context when it comes to translating?
There are a lot of translation being done in both directions, and more and more from English to French. We’ve seen cycles over the years. Playwrights like Michel Tremblay, Michel-Marc Bouchard, Evelyne de la Chenelière and Wajdi Mouawad have generated a lot of interest in the anglophone community. Compared to Europe or the U.S., in Canada, the interest in the “other” is polarized around the francophone and anglophone cultures, with little interest being shown to anyone else. In theatre, there are very few translations from English to cultures other than French. Despite its multiculturalism, Canada remains defined by its linguistic duality.
David Paquet’s Porc-Épic will be presented from October 16th to 27th at Studio 16 in Vancouver. The English surtitles, created using Maureen Labonté’s translation, will be used for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday performances.
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David Paquet will be participating in a question-and-answer session following the performance on October 26, 2012
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