The international Drama Revival project focuses on creating, translating, and circulating contemporary drama from Central and Eastern Europe. Its main objective is to support the discovery, understanding, and presentation of contemporary drama from our area.
Project objectives:
– Educational and networking activities for playwrights;
– Residencies and networking activities for translators of contemporary drama texts;
– Dissemination of knowledge about translating for the theatre and the community of translators in the theatre world;
– Networking activities for theatre professionals and researchers interested in contemporary drama.
Project results
Theme for 2024: TRANSLATION
Drama Revival covers an educational and networking programme for translators of contemporary drama. In 2024, it focuses on supporting translators through activities that strengthen their professional skills and knowledge and increase their motivation to discover and disseminate contemporary new plays from the CEE region. The programme encompasses the compilation of knowledge, including developing materials on translating dramatic texts and practical activities aimed at playwrights, translators, theatre makers, and researchers working on and with new plays.
- Translation residencies. In 2024, several residencies were organised for the Drama Revival project. These residencies aimed to foster the development of competence in translating contemporary plays intended for staging.
- On 19-29 August 2024, in Warsaw, a residency for translators of dramatic texts (Polish into Czech) was held at the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute. The drama selected for translation was Daria Sobik’s play Exhausted. The winning resident was Barbora Kolouchová, who translated the drama into Czech under the mentorship of the playwright Daria Sobik herself.
The residency covered reimbursement for travel expenses, accommodation in the centre of Warsaw, a place to work, mentoring, pocket money, and remuneration for translating the drama. The residency included support for the translator who are caregivers.
Organiser: Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute
Local partners of the residency: The residency was realised in partnership with the Czech Centre in Warsaw, the Polish Institute in Prague and the Art Institute – Theatre Institute in Prague.
- Residencies held in the Czech Republic in 2024:
- Short-term residencies for translators of dramatic texts from Czech.
- Short-term residency for translators of dramatic texts from Armenian, Estonian, Georgian, and Ukrainian.
- A Handbook in English for translators of dramatic texts (Download the Handbook)
The Handbook covers diverse aspects of translating for the theatre and serves as an introduction to the topic. Its objective is to support the younger generation of translators by providing them with basic information on translation work and the professional community in Central and Eastern Europe.
Author: Barbora Schnelle
Co-authors: Anna Sergeyevna Halas, Zuzana Augustová
Editor: Martina Pecková Černá
Collaborating editors: Karolína Stehlíková, Ivan Lacko, Michal Zahálka, Krystyna Mogilnicka, Becka McFadden, Viktor Debnár
Translated by: Becka McFadden
Publisher: Art Institute – Arts and Theatre Institute, 2024 ©
Theme for 2023: DRAMA WRITING
- Cross-sectional texts on contemporary drama:
Barbora Schnelle, Czech Drama After 1989, https://www.performczech.cz/en/artists/czech-drama-after-1989/
- In 2023, the International Conference Drama Revival: Creation, Translation and Circulation of Contemporary Drama from the Central and Eastern European Region was held. It presented the results of the educational and networking project ‘PerformCzech SKILLS: Drama Revival’. The conference captured the viewpoints of experts in contemporary drama, mentors, translators and authors who were directly involved in its various phases. The programme was divided into three thematic blocks. The first part focused on issues and tools to support the international circulation of new arts. The second block concentrated on opportunities to support authors in playwriting and mentoring methodologies. In the last block, the involved authors gave feedback on the project’s progress, and the translators shared their experiences with the texts produced as part of the project. The conference occurred on 13.11.2023 at A studio Rubín in Prague, Czech Republic. The conference coverage can be viewed here.
- In 2023, 4 new plays addressed to young audiences were created for the Drama Revival project. They reflect the current social and political situation in Central and Eastern Europe. The plays were written by authors from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Ukraine, Dagmar Fričova, Oksana Grytsenko, Alžběta Vrzgula and Tomáš Ráliš under the mentorship of international experts Kamila Polívkova (Czech Republic), Michał Buszewicz (Poland), Natalia Vorozhbyt (Ukraina), Natálie Preslová (Czech Republic), Peter Gonda (Slovakia), Wolfram Lotz (Germany), Peter Lomnický (Slovakia), Liisi Aibel (Estonia). More about the plays can be found here.
Project website: https://www.performingartsv4.eu/drama-revival/
