ABSTRACT
Although the problems of translation, and of literary translation in particular, have gained some recognition, the same cannot be said of theatre translation, specifically translation for the stage, completed with a mise en scène in view. The situation of enunciation specific to theatre has been hardly taken into consideration: that is, the situation of enunciation of a text presented by the actor in a specific time and place, to an audience receiving both text and mise en scène. In order to conceptualize the act of theatre translation, we must consult the literary translator as well as the director and actor; we must incorporate their contribution and integrate the act of translation into the much broader ‘trans-lation’ that is the mise en scène of a dramatic text. The phenomenon of translation for the stage (my chief concern here) goes beyond the rather limited phenomenon of the interlingual translation of the dramatic text. In order to outline some problems peculiar to translation for the stage and the mise en scène, we need to take account of two factors: (1) in theatre, the translation reaches the audience by way of the actors’ bodies; (2) we cannot simply translate a linguistic text into another; rather we confront and communicate heterogeneous cultures and situations of enunciation that are separated in space and time.1
