What is the Tadoussac Playwrights' Translation Residence
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What is the Tadoussac Playwrights' Translation Residence >
The 2007 Tadoussac Playwrights Residence >
Linda Gaboriau writes about the 2007 colony >
This initiative is made possible through donations from foundations and friends of Bill Glassco and the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Interdepartmental Partnership with the Official-Language Communities (IPOLC), an initiative of the Department of Canadian Heritage."
The Origins of The Tadoussac Playwrights’ Residence
“Like the train voyage that brings travelers to their destination, translation is part of the evolving history of the cultures it links.” Sherry Simon, Translating Montreal
Tadoussac is a beautiful town in Quebec situated where the Saint Lawrence meets the Saguenay River. Overlooking the bay is Fletcher Cottage, the old summer home of the Glassco family. The late Bill Glassco was a theatre director, a translator and the Artistic Director of Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre, which he founded with Jane Glassco in 1970. The Tarragon has always been known as a playwright’s theatre, and it was Bill who gave it this reputation. Bill loved the theatre, but in particular he loved writers. He was deeply committed to new writing for the stage. He believed in building a body of work that would contribute to a Canadian canon. His family roots in Quebec go way back, so too does his affinity for Quebecois culture. He loved the French language and he loved Quebecois plays and he was determined to bring Quebecois theatre to the English stage. Translation was central to Bill’s life and work, and as a result English Canadians came to know the plays of Michel Trembley and Carol Frechette.
Not only was English Canada introduced to Quebecois plays, but French Canada was experiencing the work of English playwrights. Translation is a two-way street, and with the inroads made by Bill Glassco and others, plays began to move from one language to another with some regularity. This brought the translator and the dramatist into a new relationship: to make the work complete they were dependent on each others’ skills. In the theatre, the translator is a dramatist. In Canada, it has become common practice for the translator and the playwright to work together. These relationships are often intimate, exchanging the very origins of the play for next life intentions, going from one world view to another. This process is referred to as translation dramaturgy, an evolving field with as many opinions regarding practice as there are approaches.
Translating the classics, or translating dead playwrights, brings with it a whole other set of concerns and challenges. Without the playwright as an entry point the translator must find another passage to the work. Adaptation and translation tend to be more closely linked when working with older texts. Adaptations or “versions of” are another area of dramaturgy.
The history and dramaturgy of our theatre is indebted to translation. It has been said that if there had been no translations of Molière, there would not have been any Restoration comedy in England. Sherry Simon simply states, “translation brings knowledge.” These are just some of the reasons for the National Arts Centre English Theatre’s commitment to producing plays in translation. And it is the reason behind our partnership with Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal to bring together playwrights and translators in Tadoussac, Quebec.
The residency began in 1998, prior to the NAC’s participation. For the first couple of years Bill Glassco hosted with Linda Gaboriau. It was Bill’s dream to make his family home a place of gathering for dramatists, translators, and adaptors. He knew that the theatre could only prosper from the outcome. Since Bill’s death in 2004 PWM, and now the NAC, are committed to making the practice of translation at Tadoussac a tradition. Making a Residency at Fletcher Cottage is a continuation in the efforts to share knowledge and link cultures.
And so, in September, a group of eight to ten translators/playwrights/adaptors spend ten days in residence at Fletcher Cottage. The group is varied: some come together as a pair - translator/playwright; some translator/adaptors work individually. Governor General’s Award winning translator Linda Gaboriau runs the residency as head translator/dramaturg and host. A chef contributes the meals. Participants come from across Canada to complete their works and to exchange ideas about how to work. Discourse is an important part of the experience at The Tadoussac Playwrights’ Residence. Together the NAC and PWM select the people who make up the company. Attention is given to a mix of experience in the field and a variety of projects. We have a keen interest in training and mentoring younger translators. For the NAC the choices are geared toward interest in future production.
The NAC English Theatre’s commitment to the Tadoussac Playwrights’ Translation Colony is an important part of our theatre research and development programming, which includes Playwrights in Residence and The Ark.
For more information about Theatre Research and Development at the NAC English Theatre, please contact:
Paula Danckert
Company Dramaturg and Artistic Associate
pdanckert@nac-cna.ca
613 947 7000 ext. 539
The Third Tadoussac Playwrights’ Residence is made possible with the assistance of the National Arts Centre (Ottawa) and the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Interdepartmental Partnership with the Official-Language Communities (IPOLC), an initiative of the Department of Canadian Heritage. It is also sponsored by BMO Financial Group and friends of the late Bill Glassco.
