Translations

Director Lisa Peterson began her translation journey with Hamlet after staging the play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2016. Her work uplifts the comedic and historical elements of the play that are otherwise often cut from production. She says the project felt like, “I was given the greatest of gifts: the assignment to paint…

“There is no reason any part of Shakespeare’s plays needs to be opaque; we don’t ever have [to] settle for ‘getting the gist’ when we could be getting it all. We don’t have to be looking up all the terms and words and expressions we don’t understand prior to a performance of his works. Every…

Translator Andrea Thome was drawn to the play’s travel between worlds and its mystical, complicated quality. She says, “I took on the crazy, wild, messy beast of Cymbeline because I love this play—and its mess. I love its wild ride, its unhinged, unapologetic sense of play, and overflows with human feeling and imaginative vitality. People…

Sean San José enthusiastically gravitated toward this play for translation. “Coriolanus is [a] tough task in theme, length, and language. But it also reads and rings true to me. It is messy, about morality and morals, people and politics.” In his introduction to the publication, José asks, “How do we break open some of the…

Christina Anderson’s translation uplifts the humor and metaphors of Shakespeare’s original text, illuminating archaic language for modern audiences. She says of her process, “At a macro view the story was straight forward…But as I settled into the text’s terrain, I discovered tightly packed mounds of rich, dense soil full of metaphors, similes, antiquated slang, double…

“I love working with scale. I was attracted to the idea of wrestling with a great sweeping romance, larger than life characters, political intrigue, and historical storytelling on this epic canvas. I also wanted to explore one of the greatest characters in history—a complicated and powerful queen caught between her love for Antony and trying…

Dramaturg Natsuko Ohama speaks of her experience working with playwright and translator, Virginia Grise, saying, “One starts with not knowing. Not understanding. Looking at versions then wrestling the meanings, looking in various stalls where the words are defined… The plays are meant to be played. If it brings kids in closer, bring it on.”

“I hope that my translation will lift audience spirits as a supplement to Shakespeare’s indelible original. While the language is sometimes mine, the architecture is all Shakespeare, as fresh as anything on the boards these days.” Jeff Whitty, Playwright

“I hope you’ll find something useful in this translation. I can say it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Perhaps that’s my ego talking but it’s true. It’s humbling to go face-to face with one of your heroes. It’s harder to go face-to-face with yourself.” David Ivers