The translator as a medium

by Luigi Marinelli

The translation of the “scores” of the theatrical texts (dramaturgical and theoretical) by Tadeusz Kantor –The Dead Class and  Wielopole Wielopole – created an opportunity for more general reflection on theoretical-practical aspects and problems of theatrical translation. Solicited in particular by the need to “evoke the spirits” in The Dead Class it  was  therefore suggested that the (theatrical) translator assume the metaphorical role of medium, and the translation, the spirit evocation of other “voices”. As well as acting as a medium for other voices, the theatrical translator also assumes the role of actor of his own text, since his task involving recitation with the prototext is developed through performative applications whose communicational and emotional scope is not so very different from that of an actor on stage. In the end the figures of “translator-medium”, actor and spectator/reader ultimately come to coincide, also because each one can be modified, transformed and even improved by the work in question.