Time to accept I will never get to updating this regularly! It's been eight months. Here's what's been happening, or some of it. 2022 began as 2021 ended, with Pablo Manzi's A Fight Against... at the Royal Court.  My previous post to this was written just before the commencement of rehearsals; what happened next was a fantastic few months with a gift of a cast and company working on this brilliant new play from Chile, with sold-out performances in our final week and enthusiastic responses from audiences and reviewers alike.  Towards the end of the run I had the great pleasure of chairing a post-show on the theme of Staging Latin America with, among others, assistant director Mariana Aristizábal. Both the production and the panel were recorded and will be available to stream at a later date.  And during the rehearsals I was invited by New York's Play Company to discuss translation for the stage in one of their lunchtime talks. Fans of Manzi might be interested to know that my colleague Camila Ymay González has translated his earlier play You Shall Love, available here from Inti Press. Almost immediately A Fight Against... closed, I was back at the Court to lead its first-ever Introduction to Translation group.  Over eight sessions and culminating in a wonderful sharing of their translations, I worked with a cohort of nine artists working from Arabic, Farsi, French, German, Hebrew, isiNdebele, Polish, Russian and Turkish.  It was an immense privilege to lead this inaugural project, and I am grateful to the many guest speakers and co-facilitators who were part of it (listed below*).  We hope to return in 2023. No sooner was the workshop complete than Out of the Wings, having continued our monthly play readings [...]

First things first: apologies for the ongoing issues with my website. Hopefully you will be able to read this, but a few other functions are failing at the moment. Please bear with me while I get things fixed. Summer in London is receding and even as theatres have reopened and shows are back onstage, the online world is still very much active, and certainly for me the last few months have reflected that. In July I was so thrilled to facilitate the theatre translation strand of the annual British Centre for Literary Translation summer school. For the second consecutive year, this took place entirely through screens, but this did not diminish the excitement I felt at working with nine brilliant translators working from languages including Turkish, Estonian, Romanian and Argentinian Spanish. It has been wonderful to see the profession growing, with more people trying their hand at working with playwrights and, in so doing, bringing into English the works of dramatists from more and more countries and different theatre traditions. The early summer also saw the online talks of the 'TA at Home' event, organised by the Translators Association of the Society of Authors. The talks are still available online, and vary from 'How to Edit Award-Winning Translations' to 'Translating Women's Non-Fiction Narratives'. For the event I joined colleagues Vineet Lal, Jamie Lee Searle and chair Rosalind Harvey to discuss the tricky subject of success: we asked what that word even means for a translator working in the arts, and what realities can lie behind the apparent success we see in others. As the summer continued, the Out of the Wings Festival of plays from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds at last made its return [...]

Spring is not far off and since my last post my residency, alongside fellow translator Olivia Hellewell, at the British Centre for Literary Translation, has come to its conclusion. This four-month stint embedded within the University of East Anglia was a true gift: I hugely enjoyed all my conversations with colleagues, and in particular it was a real pleasure to facilitate workshops with students of translation and drama on the theme of theatre translation. I was also able to share some of my own translation work with the online scriptwriting forum ScriptXtra, run by playwright Steve Waters, and to present a seminar on the challenges of translating dialect in the works of leading Chilean playwright, Bosco Israel Cayo Álvarez. In the last days of my residency I took part in two events that felt like a very appropriate farewell. For the National Centre for Writing's The Writing Life podcast, I spoke to Sue Healy, Literary Manager of London's Finborough Theatre about all things theatre translation in the UK. And with Theatre503, I co-hosted the second-ever directors and translators 'speed-dating' session. Following an open call, T503 Literary Manager Steve Harper and I hosted an online evening of one-to-one introductions and conversations between seven translators and seven theatre directors. The event was a huge success, I look forward to seeing what projects result from it, and I hope we will be able to do the same thing in 2022. https://twitter.com/EranE1980/status/1356694478514511874 Creating opportunities for emerging theatre translators is an important theme for me and few are centring this endeavour as enthusiastically as my friends Trine Garrett and Camila França at the international theatre company Foreign Affairs. January saw the culmination of the fourth iteration of their pioneering theatre translation programme [...]

Somehow it is October. This month saw me start my role as one of two Translators in Residence at the British Centre for Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia (UEA), alongside Olivia Helliwell, who translates from Slovenian. We will be in place until the end of January 2021. COVID has of course meant that we are unable physically to take us residence in Norwich and that we will be 'virtually resident' instead. By now we are accustomed to these digital experiences, so we have not allowed this shift in format to deter us. For the coming months we will be engaging in many different ways with students, researchers, educators, artists and the public on themes of translation from many different angles, and already we have gathered for a regular meeting with UEA's Cecilia Rossi to discuss the many issues affecting translation, which we will be turning into a blog. The first, asking 'What is a literary translator?' can be found here. Naturally I will be focussing on theatre translation. I am particularly looking forward to engaging with colleagues from the wider School of Drama, Literature and Creative Writing at UEA. I have for some time been struck by how translation, or working with translators, has not generally been part of training for actors, directors and other theatre-makers; the opportunity to engage with students during their training for the profession is one that particularly appeals to me. Also I will be engaging in more 'traditional' translation-based activities, such as this forthcoming research seminar for the BCLT on my experiences translating the Chilean playwright Bosco Israel Cayo Álvarez. Outside of the residency, the work of the Out of the Wings Collective (OOTW) has continued all [...]

Like many working in theatre and the creative industries more widely I have seen some of the projects I was looking forward to for 2020 impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown. I am grateful that the Royal Court has committed to re-programming Pablo Manzi’s A Fight Against… as soon as it can, and Global Voices Theatre are also hoping to stage our work-in-progress reading of Juan Pablo Aguilera’s La Jana at a later date. Meanwhile, I’ve had some other ongoing projects that have been keeping me occupied during lockdown. Following the publication of Borja Ortiz de Gondra’s A Basque History (The Gondras) in 2018, I was so pleased to receive a grant from Spain’s Fundación SGAE to translate his follow-up play A Basque Story (The Other Gondras). This award-winning sequel sees the semi-fictional author of the original, semi-autobiographical play, face the fall-out from his success as his family reveal the resentment at having their troubled lives used as material for a play, and has already garnered high praise throughout Spain. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/1231924608242212865?s=20 Other projects for later in the year have been ticking over: for Methuen Drama, I have been working on The Uncapturable, a reflection on the art of theatre by one of Argentina’s leading veteran directors, Rubén Szuchmacher. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/1232678581899288576?s=20 This will be published later in the year, as will my translation of Housing Plan 2015-2045 by the Chilean playwright Bosco Israel Cayo Álvarez (author of Negra for the Royal Count in 2013), in the new anthology Department of Dreams, a collection of international dystopian plays by Laertes Press. Still from Chile, following its world premiere at the Royal Court and subsequent production in Seattle, B by Guillermo Calderón will be produced in Vancouver this month by [...]

A quick round-up of what's ahead for 2020... February 12 will see the announcement of the Premio Valle-Inclán Award for literary translation from Spanish.  I am honoured to be among the five finalists for this prize, for the Oberon Anthology of Contemporary Spanish Plays. Tickets for the ceremony at the British Library are available here. In connection with the prize I will be appearing at the Society of Authors on January 28 as part of the panel discussion event, Breaking Boundaries: Journeys in Literary Translation alongside Morgan Giles and Adriana Hunter. For Global Voices Theatre I am translating the English-language premiere of La Jana by the Chilean playwright Juan Pablo Aguilera Justiniano, as part of the John Thaw Initiative Latin American season, curated at the Actor's Centre, on March 27 and 28. Also from Chile, for the Royal Court I am translating the world premiere of Pablo Manzi's A Fight Against... which runs at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs from 20 May to 20 June. And in July, I will be teaching the theatre strand at the British Centre for Literary Translation Summer School in Norwich. Ticketing is live for all of the above events. Also a reminder that the Oberon Anthology of Contemporary Argentinian Plays has now been published, following its launch in December 2019. So, a happy new year to all. Adelante!

Having singularly failed to do the promised frequent updates, I will try to make this December round-up brief... I chose today, because the month began with the wonderful news that the Oberon Anthology of Contemporary Spanish Plays has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious Valle-Inclán Award for literary translation from Spanish to English, awarded by the Society of Authors of Great Britain.  It means a huge amount to have this recognition from my peers and I hope the nomination will encourage more translators, publishers and theatres to take an interest in theatre translation. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/1201116719256940544 The anthology includes Blanca Doménech's The Sickness of Stone, which featured at the Columbia International Playwriting Festival in June, and Víctor Sánchez Rodríguez's Cuzco, which had its UK premiere at Theatre503 in January and will be appearing in the US for the first time on December 13 at Escena Sur, produced by LaMicro Theater. Also this month, we look forward to the launch of the Oberon Anthology of Contemporary Argentinian Plays, edited by Catherine Boyle.  I was delighted to be invited to translated two plays for this volume (Franco Calluso's Nou Fiuter and Juan Ignacio Fernández's Poor Men's Poetry), alongside my esteemed colleagues from the Out of the Wings collective.  The volume will be launched on December 6 at the Roundhouse in London, and all are welcome (but booking required at this link). Talking of Out of the Wings, we enjoyed another wonderful sharing of plays from Ibero-America this year at our fourth and most-successful-yet festival, at the Omnibus Theatre in south London.  I loved working with director Kate O'Connor on my translation of Gabriela Aguilera's Cassandra, Sandra.  We are looking forward to OOTW's fifth festival in 2020, plans are already afoot! https://twitter.com/Outofthewings/status/1168812955472977928 Also [...]

In the spirit of keeping these updates a little more regular – and shorter! – today seems like a great day for a round-up, with three of my translations lined up to be performed in the coming months. First up will be The Sickness of Stone by Blanca Doménech.  This is such a powerful play and one that just keeps coming back.  First at the Out of the Wings festival in 2016, then in the US for a reading at the Access Theatre, New York, and now, in June, as part of the Columbia International Play Festival, again in New York.  Nana Dakin (currently in rehearsals for White Pearl at the Royal Court), directs this fantastic, tense two-hander that combines scrutiny of Spain’s difficult recent history with an exploration of echo chambers, division, and the inevitable hypocrisy of living in our modern world.  It is also published by Oberon Books in this anthology. Next, in August at the Omnibus Theatre, London, a beautiful play by the Chilean writer Gabriela Aguilera.  Cassandra, Sandra explores the meaning of grief, home and family in a bittersweet comedy of returning, remembering, and the kindness of strangers.  I am delighted that this translation, which was supported by the Chilean Arts Council, is to be performed at the Out of the Wings festival alongside work from five other Iberoamerican countries. And in 2020, just announced today, I am thrilled to be translating for the Royal Court once more after Guillermo Calderón’s B in 2017.  Pablo Manzi’s A Fight Against is one of the most compelling plays I have read in recent years in its exploration of violence, isolation, and the need for human contact in an alienating world.  I can’t wait [...]

Once again time has got the better of me and I've failed to keep up with what's been going on.  When I last updated this section I was still looking ahead to my stint as Translator in Residence at the Arniches Theatre in Spain and to the opening of Víctor Sánchez Rodríguez's Cuzco at Theatre503.  Now I'm back from Alicante, Cuzco has almost finished its run, and much else has happened besides. Most pressing though was updating this website! I've just added a whole range of recent projects to my portfolio such as An American Life and Agency by the Spanish playwright Lucía Carballal and the most recent of the plays I have been commissioned to translate by the British Council in Chile.  Importantly though I have also updated the sections about my work in other capacities promoting and supporting the work of international writers and translators, whether this be consulting for the Royal Court, curating for Global Voices Theatre, or producing and marketing for Out of the Wings.  Also I have added more information about the work I do teaching, mentoring, speaking and writing.  I hope you'll take a look. One recent example was a post-show discussion I was delighted to take part in as part of the New Plays from Europe festival at the Yard, a great way to start the year promoting and championing playwrights from our neighbours in Europe.  You can listen to it here. https://soundcloud.com/user-581016306/the-role-of-the-translator-translating-foreign-performance-cultures January also saw the showcase of the third interation of [Foreign Affairs] Translates, the theatre translation programme which I have been proud to be a mentor on since it began in 2016.  This year, plays were translated and performed from Colombia, France and Germany, and as usual [Foreign Affairs] did a [...]

I can't quite believe where the months have gone.  But before catching up I must celebrate the fact that I'm writing this on the day when India's Supreme Court quashed the homophobic, colonial-era Section 377.  In March this year I was proud to be closely involved as co-curator and talks chair for the Arcola's Global Queer Plays, which opened with Danish Sheikh's Contempt, a play about the courtroom and personal trials around the fight for LGBTQ equality in India. Danish has been part of the huge effort to change the law in India and I am so pleased at this outcome.  Look out for his play, alongside the other six we shared at the event, in an anthology from Oberon Books later in 2018/19. I'm also delighted that Global Queer Plays inspired producers Lora Krasteva and Rach Skyer to take on the 'global' theme and create Global Voices Theatre, showcasing international writing from a different perspective at each of their events.  This has included Global Female Voices already and in October will mark their first Global Black Voices event.  All being well, Global Queer Voices will return in 2019. https://twitter.com/GlobalVoicesTh/status/1032344002669027329 Back to the world of Spanish and Latin American plays and a quick update of what I've been up to since the spring.  First, yet another outing for Mar Gómez Glez's unstoppable Numbers.  It's not exactly something to celebrate that the Mediterranean migrant crisis, which the play first tackled in 2009, remains unresolved, but it did prompt Dash Arts to select the play to feature at their Eurosquat event at this year's Latitude Festival.  This was the first return to the UK for this play, which started life at the Royal Court's international residency and has since been shared in New York, Washington DC, New [...]

March began with a two-day festival of LGBTQ+ theatre in translation, or from parts of the English-speaking world less often seen on the London stage, which I was part of the team on at the Arcola Theatre.  We presented seven plays from India, Kosovo, France, Taiwan, Argentina, and by writers of Jordanian and Egyptian origin, and held post-show discussions with writers, translators, directors, actors and invited guests, which I chaired.  It was wonderful to see this work showcased, and a particular thrill that so many of the writers and translators came to London to be with us, often from very long distances!  You can read a full account of the event on The Theatre Times here. Interviewing (L to R) Paul Dillane, Tasmine Airey, Jeton Neziraj and Danish Sheikh at the Arcola, March 2018. Photo (c) Ali Wright In late February I was at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) with the international theatre company [Foreign Affairs] to run a workshop on the theme of translating Japanese theatre.  As a non-speaker of Japanese I was relieved to be co-presenting with playwright and translator Nozomi Abe, as well as the artistic directors of [Foreign Affairs] Trine Garrett and Camila França, as we discussed the controversial subject of 'speakability' and the process of [Foreign Affairs] innovative theatre translation programme, and finally explored with attendees and a helpful company of actors the various ways that we could translate extracts from a selection of contemporary Japanese plays. https://twitter.com/4nAffairs/status/966964343874125824 Also this month I completed by translation of The Lady of the Andes, a fanstastic play in the typical black-comic style of Chilean playwright Bosco Israel Cayo Alvarez.  This play won the Chilean national literature award for playwriting [...]

After almost 100 submissions to our call-out last year, we were so excited last month to be able to announce the programme for #GlobalQueerPlays.  On March 3 and 4 at the Arcola Theatre, the Arcola Queer Collective will showcase readings of seven plays on LGBT+ themes, four of which are translations.  With plays from Argentina, India, Taiwan, Kosovo and France, and by Germany- and US-based writers of Jordanian and Egyptian origin, we will also be organising a series of post-show talks on themes of translation, LGBT+ rights, international theatre, and more.  It promises to be an inspiring weekend. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/956211745877581827 More inspiration came in January in the shape of the second annual [Foreign Affairs] Translates! showcase.  At the Rose Lipman building in East London, this pioneering theatre translation programme on which I am a proud mentor shared performances of new translations of plays from Japan, China and Finland.  A multinational cast brought to life three diverse pieces spanning not only miles but also over 100 years.  I very happily joined a post-show discussion on theatre translation after one of the performances, and  I hope we will see more of these plays and from their translators.  The [Foreign Affairs] Translates! 2018 programme will open for applications in the spring. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/954510139838648326 Also from [Foreign Affairs], another talk I took part in on the subject of international theatre in translation, chaired by Daniel Hahn in November, was released on SoundCloud this month. https://twitter.com/4nAffairs/status/953256085510553601 Back to my own translation work and this month I have two new translations hot off the press, of two very different plays from Spain.  Julio Escalada's On the Edge is a powerful thriller of modern-day 'convivencia', set in one of Spain's oft-forgotten enclaves on the North African [...]

I spent my New Year's Eve curled up with Tony Kushner's masterpiece Angels in America, in honour of my theatre highlight of 2017 (and possibly ever), the production of this truly great play at the National Theatre here in London.  I can't think of a better message to start a new year with:  'More life!' I look forward to new projects for 2018 but first a quick round-up of the end of 2017. Early in the month I joined Trine Garrett of [Foreign Affairs] to deliver a theatre and translation workshop for the winners of the German Academic Exchange Service's annual creative writing in German competition in association with the Institute of Modern Languages Research.  We were hugely impressed by the standard from the winners in all three characters:  secondary school, undergraduate, and other.  The winners had all been set the task of writing dialogues between Martin Luther and a 21st-Century person of note, so we enjoyed conversations between this leading figure of the Reformation and JK Rowling, Vivienne Westwood, Jacob Ree-Mogg and even Donald Trump (via Twitter, of course).  We worked with the winners and two German actors to stage the dialogues, before working on a translation from German into English, imagining the thoughts of Luther's long-suffering wife. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/940279733597671424 Also in December we opened the submission window for the Arcola queer collective's Global Queer Plays project.  In March we will present four rehearsed readings of LGBT+ plays from around the world.  I am so delighted to be co-curating this initiative and we are thrilled to have received close to 100 submissions to select from (the window is now closed for this year).  The project is an opportunity to showcase voices and stories that might not otherwise [...]

Another month has fairly flown by! I must start this post with exciting news about a project I am co-curating at the Arcola Theatre.  For March 2018, the Arcola Queer Collective is planning a short festival of international LGBTQ play readings.  For this, we have put out an open call to translators and writers to help us find plays that tell stories of queer lives from throughout the world and throughout history.  Plays can be translated from any language, from any country, from any period of history, and the submission window is open until December 25. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/935133722634055680 With B ending its run at the Royal Court I took the chance to take two theatre trips to Spain (more below), but managed to squeeze in a fair bit in between flights. On the publication front, I'm delighted to feature as a translator in this newly published anthology of contemporary Mexican plays, published by Paso de Gato in assocation with the Anglo-Mexican Foundation and the Royal Court Theatre.  My translations of Beat by Bárbara Colio and A Choir of Orphaned Children by Mariana Hartasánchez feature alongside work by Alberto Villarreal, translated by Simon Scardifield.  The publication is the culmination of a two-year playwriting workshop run in Mexico City by the Royal Court as part of its ongoing commitment to developing the work of international writers. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/933623520931741696 This month I have continued to work closely with international theatre company [Foreign Affairs].  On their theatre translation programme I have enjoyed both delivering and participating in workshops aimed at bringing translators and theatre-makers closer together.  These have included more text-based workshops but also, pictured below, sessions exploring how a translator's words can become sound, rhythm, image and movement. There will be a showcase [...]

It's amazing to see that in my last post rehearsals for Guillermo Calderón's B had barely begun at the Royal Court, and to suddenly realise we are almost through with the run, which ends on October 21.  It's been a real pleasure to work again with this fantastic and unique Chilean playwright, and with such a talented team at one of the English-speaking world's finest theatres, and certainly one which champions international playwriting and translation more than any other I know. https://twitter.com/royalcourt/status/913792831692648453 An added pleasure is that the translation has also now been published, by Oberon Books. B will be followed up by world premieres of plays from Syria and Ukraine in this Royal Court season, and below you can read a fascinating article by Royal Court International Director Elyse Dodgson on the long-term processes and commitments that have led to these three plays reaching the London stage. https://twitter.com/royalcourt/status/918069945392615429 While B has been running in Sloane Square, over in East and South London the CASA Festival of Latin American theatre has also been sharing international plays with London audiences at the Arcola and Southwark Playhouse theatres, and I have been delighted to be involved as both a translator and an actor in three of the festival's play readings. On September 30 at the Arcola, new company Latin American Voices presented my translation of Pig Woman by leading Argentine playwright Santiago Loza.  This powerful monologue follows one woman's quest to acheive sainthood, even at the greatest of costs to both her body and her mind.  The performance, by Phoebe Batteson-Brown and directed by Ali Wright, will be reprised at the Argentine Embassy in London on November 9. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/911622541860630528 One week later at the Southwark Playhouse I performed in Sophie [...]

Rehearsals for the world premiere of Guillermo Calderón's B are well under way at the Royal Court.  I have been in rehearsals to watch the production taking shape under Sam Pritchard's expert direction, and the first previews begin on September 28.  You can see some rehearsal images below, and book your tickets here. https://twitter.com/royalcourt/status/907635056260370437 Before that, however, I'm delighted to be working with the new company Latin American Voices on a UK premiere reading of Pig Woman by Santiago Loza, one of Argentina's leading contemporary writers.  This one-woman tale of a harrowing search for spiritual perfection will be performed as a rehearsed reading at the Arcola Theatre on Saturday, September 23rd at 13:00.  The reading is free to attend. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/908318285367783424 On October 7 my translation of Weathered will have its second rehearsed reading in the UK.  This contemporary Cuban family drama by Abel González Melo was originally commissioned by HOME MCR for their Viva! festival in 2016, alongside a produciton of Abel's nocturnal thriller Chamaco.  As at HOME, Cat Robey directs this reading, which will take place at the Southwark Playhouse at 13:30.  Like Pig Woman, this reading is also free to attend. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/909461722267832321 And finally for now, I am really delighted to be co-presenting the plenary event at this year's International Translation Day at the British Library, on October 2nd.  I will be sharing the stage with the London-based international theatre company [Foreign Affairs] to talk about theatre translation, about the company's innovative theatre translators' programme, and to lead our audience in a mass theatre translation activity.  This year's ITD promises to be very eclectic and inspiring and I look forward to rounding the day off with little drama!  We've already been hard at work getting things ready. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/907977977274793984 [...]

Just like the British summer, the Sydney run of Rodrigo García's I'd Rather Goya Robbed Me of My Sleep... has flown by, closing on Saturday at the Old 505 Theatre in Newtown.  Produced by Théâtre Excentrique and directed by Anna Jahjah, this acerbic Argentine monologue was performed by Gerry Sont.  A clip of Gerry's energetic delivery can be seen below. https://twitter.com/Th_Excentrique/status/903737473313923073 Meanwhile in London, rehearsals have begun for the Royal Court Theatre's world-premiere production of B by the acclaimed Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón, which opens at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs on September 28.  Having worked previously with Guillermo on Villa and Discurso, it is a real thrill to be collaborating with him again.  The casting will be announced publicly soon but in the meantime you can find more information about the play at the Royal Court website.  Sam Pritchard directs. https://twitter.com/royalcourt/status/904320572263342080

I was away on holiday for the first half of August (and resisting the temptation to post holiday snaps here!), so sadly was unable to attend the Royal Court's New and Now series of international play readings, curated by Elyse Dodgson and Sam Pritchard for the Edinburgh International Festival.  Two of these plays were pieces I have translated:  from Chile, Guillermo Calderón's Discurso, and from Cuba, shared with an audience for the very first time, Laura Liz Gil Echenique's Drainage Alley. Luckily, clips from the readings have been made available on the BBC.  In this extract from Discurso, directed by the author, the wonderful Kika Markham plays Chilean president Michele Bachelet.  In this excerpt from Calderón's reimagined farewell speech, the president laments the impossibility of transformative change and rails against the venom of the Right. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/896821528230342656 Days previously, John Tiffany directed Drainage Alley.  In this clip from Laura Liz Gil Echenique's moving tribute to the stoic inhabitants of a lane on the outskirts of Havana, the neighbours find a crucial water pipe burst and despair at the chances of getting it fixed any time soon. https://twitter.com/royalcourt/status/895683669310009346

The summer is in full swing but in Australia the winter is about to be hit by a dose of Rodrigo García and his I'd Rather Goya Robbed Me of My Sleep than some Other Son of a Bitch.  This is an exciting Australian debut for me as a translator, as this high-octane monologue contemplating capitalism, parenthood, philosophy and dependency, opens at Old 505 Theatre in Newtown, Sydney, on August 22.  Théâtre Excentrique produce the play, following productions in English at the Gate Theatre Notting Hill and at the Boom Arts Festival in Portland, Oregon. https://twitter.com/Th_Excentrique/status/890014863262666753 Meanwhile, preparations for the Edinburgh International Festival continue, with the Royal Court announcing their full programme of international plays to be showcased as part of their 'New and Now' season of play readings.  I have two translations in the mix, Laura Liz Gil Echenique's Drainage Alley and Guillermo Calderón's Speech. These are two out of the six plays from around the world being read as part of the EIF's 'Spirit of 47' season.  From Ukraine, Sasha Dugdale translates Natal’ya Vorozhbit's Bad Roads; Katherine Halls translates Maya Zbib's Galia's Miles, from Lebanon; Zhu Yi self-translates You Never Touched the Dirt, from China, and from Palestine, Dalia Taha writes There is No One between You and Me. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/890146951383175169

Just over one year after our first week of play readings with Out of the Wings, and the Spanish play I translated and directed for that season, Blanca Doménech's The Sickness of Stone, has been published in extracts in the well-known literary translation journal, Asymptote.  This contemporary piece about the physical and psychological legacy of the Franco dictatorship is one of two play selected from Asymptote's summer issue.  The Sickness of Stone was premièred at Out of the Wings, before going on to be performed in readings in Madrid and New York, and published in Spanish in Mexico and Argentina.  This is the first time that it has been made available to readers in English. https://twitter.com/asymptotejrnl/status/887405839883153408

The dust is settling after a wonderful week at London's Cervantes Theatre, where along with colleagues from Out of the Wings we shared rehearsed readings of five plays from Latin America, Portugal and Spain.  This was the second annual Out of the Wings festival of readings and the 2017 event was a great success, building on the work of 2016 and taking us to new audiences. On Wednesday July 12 I directed my own translation of Cuzco, a world première by one of Spain's most exciting emerging playwrights, Víctor Sánchez Rodríguez.  This two-hander, which will have its home première in Valencia in October, sends a Spanish couple to Peru in a bid to rescue their relationship, only for history, jetlag and the reality of their daily lives to conspire against them.  Richard Glaves and Denise Hoey (who also performed in The Sickness of Stone in 2016) performed the roles of the couple, and Gigi Guizado narrated. https://twitter.com/Outofthewings/status/885114375463460864 A translator herself, Las Vegas-based actor Gigi Guizado was in London for the festival primarily for the reading of Symphony for Six Actors, four C20th radio plays written by her Colombian grandfather Rafael Guizado.  I was delighted to join the cast of Symphony for what was the final reading in our week of plays.  We were also joined by Richard, fresh from Cuzco (pictured below with me and Lanna Joffrey in rehearsals). The other plays in the readings were The Real Mother of Marilyn Monroe by Armando Nascimento Rosa (Portugal), translated by Susannah Finzi; Double Panic by Virgilio Piñera (Cuba), translated by Kate Eaton, and Ready or Not by Estela Golovchenko, translated by Sophie Stevens. Out of the Wings goes from strength to strength and there will be more to come from our collective as 2017 progresses. [...]

June sees the return of this timely play about the Mediterranean refugee crisis.  Munich-based Entity Theatre have already performed Numbers at their home theatre, but this month they tour to Frankfurt and Salzburg. On June 6, Entity takes part in the English-language festival FEATS in Frankfurt, before heading to Salzburg's mini English Drama Festival on June 10 for the play's Austrian premiere. For this well-travelled piece which started life in London at the Royal Court International Residency, Austria is the latest stop on a tour that has so far included LA, Washington DC, New York, New Jersey, Mumbai and Munich.

There were a flurry of updates and announcements earlier this month so here's a summary. I'm delighted to be among the likes of fellow translators Sasha Dugdale and Kathernine Halls working on a series of rehearsed readings of plays from around the world to be staged at this year's Edinburgh International Festival (EIF).  Spirit of '47 celebrates the EIF's collaboration with the British Council in showcasing exciting international theatre and features work from Ukraine, China and Syria. Two plays from Cuba and Chile will feature in my English translation, both created as part of the Royal Court Theatre's long commitment to international work. From Cuba, Laura Liz Gil Echenique's Drainage Alley is a moving and intimate portrait of life in a forgotten street on the outskirts of Havana, where one woman strives against all the odds to stand firm in the belief that a better life awaits.  John Tiffany directs. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/875016984831938560 From Chile, leading playwright Guillermo Calderón (writer of B, forthcoming at the Royal Court) directs his own Discurso (Speech), a fictionalised imagining of a farewell speech by President Michele Bachelet.  Originally written during the Royal Court International Residency, Discurso was staged in Belfast in 2014 by Prime Cut Productions.  For the EIF, Guillermo is working on an updated version to reflect Bachelet's second term in office.  Kika Markham, who played Bachelet for the original Royal Court reading, returns. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/874991496906383361 Meanwhile, in Manchester, the publication of Dark Habits will be marked later this week with an official launch on June 23 at HOME.  The anthology, commissioned to accompany HOME's exhibition on La Movida, Madrid's 1980s cultural awakening, features my translation of My Own Private Movida, a nostalgic essay by Spanish artist and writer Mercedes Cebrián. https://twitter.com/HOME_mcr/status/876801900322193408 I won't be in Manchester for the launch, [...]

I really enjoyed translating Spanish artist Mercedes Cebrián's nostalgic essay on life in a convent school in 1980s Madrid for this anthology of artist responses to La Movida, the counter-cultural reawakening that took place in the Spanish capital in the early years of post-Franco democracy.  The book accompanies an exhibition on La Movida at HOME MCR, where last year I translated a new play from Cuba for their annual VIVA! festival. We were all surprised when one printer refused to print the book on the grounds of alleged obscenity! Now the book has finally been released, you can decide for yourself. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/870563374370885632

On May 19 we had a great evening with attendees at the British Academy Late 'Off The Page' event, playing with Shakespearean (and C17th Mexican) insults and ways of translating them. I co-ran this workshop with Professor Catherine Boyle of King's College London and Out of the Wings.  Entitled 'Rehearsing the Translated Play' and with the help of actors Richard Glaves and Kate Eaton, we worked with the audience to find imaginative ways of re-wording plays in translation. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/866586310559051776

On May 16 I was thrilled to chair a post-show discussion on 'Translated Theatre in the Globalised World' following a performance of Alexandra Badea's The Pulverised at the Arcola Theatre.  We were joined virtually by Lucy Phelps who translated the play, along with its director Andy Sava, academic and translator Sarah Maitland and director Jude Christian (who I worked with on Goya at the Gate in 2014).  Lucy was busy performing at the RSC but was able to make this video for the post-show in record time. https://twitter.com/Changing_Face/status/864596660374122497

At the BL this week I found myself on display along with many other fellow translators at this conference exploring the role and person of the translator throughout history. https://twitter.com/shadow_heroes/status/861586262964264960

After readings or productions in London, Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York, New Jersey and Mumbai, Mar Gómez Glez's Numbers, originally written and translated for the Royal Court Theatre's international residency, took another step on a seemingly global tour, care of Munich's English-language Entity Theatre.  The run in Munich is in advance of another appearance in Germany this year, at the FEATS festival in June, and then in Salzburg. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/857656279699001346

It was a real honour to speak alongside academics and fellow translators Sophie Stevens, Sarah Maitland and Katie Brown at this year's annual Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland Conference at Cardiff University.  Our panel on 'Translation and the Trials of Advocacy' explored the role of the translator in the translation of artistic works and also our role in sharing these translations with the rest of the world.  In my talk I expanded on some of my ideas from 'The Strangeness of the Theatre Translator' which I wrote for Words Without Borders last year. https://twitter.com/KatieBrown161/status/851819536319991808

Following a reading at the Royal Court and a production in Belfast care of Prime Cut Theatre, my translation of Villa, written and directed by leading Chilean playwright and screenwriter Guillermo Calderón (B at the Royal Court, Neruda)ran for the month of March at The Wild Project, New York, produced by The Play Company.  This powerful exploration of the legacy of dictatorship and national trauma garnered great reviews in the US and further consolidates Guillermo's status as one of Chile's most important and exciting writers today. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/841957842240299008

I was honoured this month to be appointed formally as a Visiting Research Associate at King's College London.  I will be working alongside the Spanish and Latin American Studies department on a project-by-project basis in the coming years, working mainly with Out of the Wings and with the Language Acts and Worldmaking research programme. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/837688303579193350

The dates have been finalised and tickets released for B by Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón.  This will be a world premiere in any language of Guillermo's latest play, opening at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre in September.  I've worked as a translator with Guillermo on a number of previous occasions and it's a privilege to be doing it again. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/833640328175505410

I'm delighted to have been selected by the Fundación SGAE in Spain to translate Los Gondra, a fantastic family saga by on of Spain's leading playwrights, Borja Ortiz de Gondra.  This powerful story, spanning four generations and over one hundred years of history, explores the impact of war, national identity and history on family life and exposes the limitations of family loyalty and love, while delighting in the proud traditions of the Basque people as seen through their language, music, landscape and, crucially, great sporting tradition.

It's great to start the year with a new project!  Throughout 2017 I will be translating a series of plays by modern dramatists from Chile, including such revered names as Egon Wolff and Juan Radrigán.  The first of these is Radrigán's The Desolate Prince, a powerful reimagining of the Lucifer and Lilith Myth, exploring themes of theocracy, dogma, and the realities of life under state terror.  See a video of extracts from the original play here: https://youtu.be/3U5bVgHwzKE

I have been working with Spanish playwright Vanessa Montfort even since she wrote Flashback for the Royal Court International Residency.  Also a successful novelist, her Manhattan noir Myths of New York is the second of her four prize-winning novels to date, taking us on a murderous tour of a New York composed of comics, books and movies.  In this extract published by Drunken Boat, the hero Dan Rogers drives to Long Island for Thanksgiving, briefly escaping the gruesome realities of the case he is working on.  But he is unable to flee the paranoias of his own mind. https://twitter.com/wjg22/status/822749144100048897

In November 2016 I was invited by the Sociedad General de Autores de España (SGAE, the Spanish writers guild), the Asociación de Autores de Teatro (AAT, the Spanish playwrights association), and Acción Cultural de España (ACE, the Spanish arts and culture funding body) to the ‘Encuentro de dramaturgos con traductores’.  This annual and almost unique event invites a small number of translators from around the world to share their experiences of the role of Spanish theatre in their own countries, and crucially, to meet a number of contemporary Spanish playwrights one to one.  The hope, of course, is that these meetings will result in more Spanish plays being translated and staged or published throughout the world. This was my second attendance at the event and, alongside translation colleagues from Romania, Hungary, Italy, Germany and France, I met with 12 playwrights from across the spectrum of Spanish theatre-making. I would love, of course, to translate all of them, and I certainly hope to translate some of their work, but I am but one translator.  Luckily, though, I know I am not the only Spanish-to-English theatre translator, so I hope some of my colleagues in the UK, the US or beyond may read the following short summaries with interest and be moved to contact some of the authors and read their plays. The playwrights are presented in the order in which I met them, (which amounts to no particular order).  I was only able to read one of each of their plays in preparation for the event:  there are many more where these came from.  Where they have an entry, I have placed a link through to Contexto Teatral, an excellent, curated new web initiative designed to [...]