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YouTube: Shakespeare for a Modern Age: Translating the Bard’s words

In October 2016, actors and directors from the Colorado Shakespeare Festival read through drafts of two newly-translated plays, “Henry VI, Part 2” and “Henry VI, Part 3.” These modern-day translations of the Bard’s timeless words, part of OSF’s Play On! initiative, were done by playwright Douglas Langworthy.
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Langworthy on translating Shakespeare: First do no harm

I’ll never forget the first German-language production of Shakespeare I saw – Troilus and Cressida at the Berliner Ensemble in then East Berlin. And while I can’t tell you that much about the design or the actors, I was struck by how clear the language was. You see, in Germany, Shakespeare gets translated once or twice each generation into contemporary language that sits comfortably in the listener’s ear.