Nicosia, Cyprus. Translations by Brian Friel will be staged for the first time in Cyprus at the Main Stage of the Cyprus Theatre Organisation in Nicosia, in a production directed and co-translated by Patrick Myles. The production links the play’s themes to Cyprus’ history of partition, renaming and continued foreign military presence.
Production focus and setting
Set in rural Donegal in 1833, Translations takes place in a hedge school as British military surveyors arrive to translate Irish place names into English as part of a systematic mapping of the country. The play also depicts the replacement of the traditional Irish educational system by the National School system, taught solely in English, as Irish names are anglicised and landscapes reclassified.
Language and casting
The production will be performed in both Cypriot Greek dialect and in English, with a cast of Cypriot actors playing the Irish roles and British actors playing the English officers.
Translation team and approach
The translation is by Myles and Andreas Tselepos, who also plays Owen, and aims to preserve Friel’s shifts between lyricism and plain speech while navigating the play’s linguistic dynamics and remaining faithful to the time and setting of the original.
Cyprus context
Myles and Tselepos said Cyprus’ modern history has been shaped by British colonial rule and the division of the island in 1974 following the Turkish invasion. They said the continuing presence of British Sovereign Bases and Turkish troops gives the play’s themes of territory and sovereignty contemporary relevance for Cypriot audiences, and that the play’s questions around language, memory and belonging will resonate in a country marked by competing names and identities.
Dates, venues, and surtitles
The production opens in Nicosia on Saturday, with an official premiere on April 4 and performances running until the middle of May. Performances are scheduled at 8pm on Friday and Saturday and at 6pm on Sunday. The April 24 performance in Nicosia and the May 15 performance in Limassol are surtitled in English and Turkish. The production runs from March 28 to mid-May at the Main Stage of the Cyprus Theatre Organisation in Nicosia, and is listed as being in Greek. More information is available at www.thoc.org.cy/el/events/translations.
Which performance date would you attend to see Translations with English-Turkish surtitles?
