Janna Tsokou

Good morning. Could you tell us how you got into theatrical translation?

Good morning. I entered the world of theatrical translation thanks to Martin Scharnhorst, a friend of mine who’s also a director. I studied in Vienna, and Martin himself is Austrian. We met in Greece, though, and at some point, while discussing theater, he said, “Why don’t you translate plays?”. And in fact, this was something that I’d been thinking for a while. It had been in the back of my mind as something I’d like to try. It seemed enticing but I hadn’t found a suitable play. Then Martin gave me a text by Peter Turrini and I translated it. This is how I started this chapter. Thanks to Martin I translated the plays I ended up translating. Almost all of them. This was my starting point. I was always involved in theater, but had never found a way to approach the translation realm, even though I have several friends who are translators that have lived in Vienna as well, and are considered to be excellent theatrical translators. In fact, that very first text that I ended up translating was adapted as a theatrical lectern, by me, Simos Kakalas and Dimitra Kouza. It was performed at Kodra camp, at a Damianos Konstantinidis’ initiative aiming to expose the public to new texts. I was lucky enough to hear the words out loud. This is hugely important, especially for a theatrical translator. Though I started my career as an actress, when I started translating, I recited the text to myself. Because if a translated text doesn’t have a natural spoken flow, or a natural rhythm in the target language because the translator strives to remain as close as possible to the author by making concessions in their language, the battle is lost for good. This is the most important goal. I was very fortunate to be able to listen to the text that I translated. It gave me genuine joy. This is how this adventure started and it’s an ongoing process. Still, there are several plays I’ve translated which haven’t been performed yet. Mind you, they’re a bit hard to digest. But some have been performed, for a limited number of shows, except for my latest one that was performed by the National Theater of Northern Greece. It was a play by Hachfeld, who is also the author of Mugnog-Kinder!. It’s about a very important theatrical organization in Berlin that works with very young audiences, called GRIPS Theater. GRIPS Theater has played a very important role in the development of theater for children and young people. It was, admittedly, one of Xenia Kalogeropoulou’s major influences. Mormolis, the Greek version of Mugnog-Kinder! is a prime example. Hachfeld and his brother, Volker Ludwig, have written some very important plays. This company only performs plays written for them specifically. It won’t perform plays by ― let’s say ― American playwrights. The company has a specific goal, which is to lend an ear to the youths’ issues and perspective at any given circumstance, and from there to draw on themes and write plays. This play, whose title in Greek would translate as “Are you talking to me”, and was directed by Stella Michailidou, is originally called Eins auf die Fresse. “Eins auf die Fresse” means “in one’s face”, which also refers to the English “in-yer-face” theater, and the play is about the very important issues of bullying and sexuality. I’ve been keeping this play in my drawer, so to speak, for ages. I must have translated it around 2006-2007. At some point, I showed it to some trusted friends in order to get feedback on my translation and then I forgot about it completely. So it’s to Stella Michailidou’s credit that she realized that the time was right. She suggested the play to the National Theater, and they were bold enough to produce it. This play is being played consistently at GRIPS Theater, because unfortunately its topic stays relevant to this day. And yet, there are still some teachers who won’t bring their students to see it. A certain religious education teacher sent a letter to the National Theater, and “threatened” that he’d get hold of the original text, in order to count the times that this or that word appears in it. It goes without saying that the play is written in young people’s vernacular. How else could it be done? That’s why it speaks to young spectators. So, a very important issue that translators have to face has to do with how one brings an older text to the present day. On this occasion, we got to collaborate, and that’s crucial, especially in the case of theatrical translation, with the director, considering the show’s needs. Mara Tsikara added some lyrics and Kostas Vomvolos wrote music for them, and both were a hit. I’d say that the original theatrical text is like a body. A body that is reborn every time someone brings it to the stage. If the same play was performed at a municipal theater, or in Athens, it’d be seen in a very different way. We’d have to work on it from the top. Or, if someone wants to stage it after 5 years, we’d have to find new expressions. Something that I’ve translated as “cool”, might need to be changed to “sick”. It could be one of many examples. This is a characteristic trait of theatrical translation. It needs to take into account the way people speak in the country the play is staged. What else would you like me to talk about?

What other issues do you usually encounter in your line of work? How do you handle them?

A main issue is that of expression. For me, as someone who has another job and is not a professional translator, translation is just one piece of a puzzle. I’m not someone who has immersed herself into the extent of the depths of translation to be able to tell you what the main issues are with theatrical translation. Plus, I only translate text that uses direct speech. If someone ever offered me to translate plays by O’ Neill or Shakespeare, I’d say, “Let’s give those to somebody who’s more familiar with this kind of works”. The texts I translate include this particular challenge. I have to find a way to express, through the words that I choose, the situations and feelings that the playwright described in his play. My translation would need to convey all that. So, that’s one issue: Coming up with the right contemporary expressions, since, most of the times, the plays are written in colloquial language. Another major element is rhythm. What kind of rhythm, what kind of music does a particular text have? What does it sound like in German, since this is my first source language. What does it sound like in the original text? One listens to it and is filled with joy. One hears it and thinks, “This is lovely”. Will I be able to provoke the same reaction? A sign of success and the main challenge is for a spectator not to be able to tell that this play has been translated. No word should pop out as unnatural. The text should flow with no hindrance. This is the biggest challenge in theater. I guess that the same goes for literature or for essays and scientific texts, because a text that seems unnatural to the reader is problematic. In the theater, though, it seems like one suddenly throws a stone to a wall. The performance’s flow can be ruined. Also, actors can’t recite badly translated texts. So, no matter what us translators may claim, if an actor can’t recite the words well or can’t make them their own, it means that we did something wrong and we need to find a way to fix it. And this is where good teamwork comes into play. The director or the actor should come and let the translator know of any issues, if something seems off. And on such occasions, the translator should be open to suggestions. Nobody can claim that they’re perfect, when it comes to such matters. Effective and fruitful teamwork, for me, is the theater’s most meaningful virtue.

Are you satisfied with the rate for translating theatrical texts?

I’ll say this: I didn’t translate those texts thinking someone would stage them. When Martin… Martin has formed at the moment a group called Märzbühne. He’s in Athens and is working with both German and Greek texts. He’s finally able to do his own thing. He did several theatrical journeys before reaching this new significant project proposal. But this wasn’t my profession. If I wanted to make a living translating theater, I should be 100% focused on this. I’d have to search for plays, work on them and then hope they get staged. I’m not that well-known amongst translators so that companies give me plays to translate because they intend to stage them. So I’m not in a position to comment on pay rates. For example, I don’t even know what I’ll end up receiving for the play I did and is being played by the National Theater. I think it’ll be satisfactory since it’s a play that schools come to see, and schools are guaranteed seats sold.

Regarding editing and proofreading, does someone proofread your translations?

So far, I have sent my work to some friends so that they can give me feedback. Personally, I come from a line of bad spellers, and I’m not a literature teacher… I studied theater in Vienna. So, I don’t possess that big an arsenal when it comes to literary skills. I use my instincts plus what I’ve learned on the job. I consider proofreading to be essential. Absolutely and without a doubt. When a text is translated to be performed on a stage, that’s something else. It’s not something that will be read. If it is, then it should absolutely be proofread first. I’d feel naked and exposed if my text wasn’t checked by somebody else.

How is your relationship with the playwrights that you translate?

To be honest, I’d say it’s non-existent. Because I haven’t met them in person. I remember Turrini from my days in Vienna, when he was very well-known. But I never got to know him. The translation work mostly took place in the margins. A play was translated and it was read in the form of theatrical lectern. So far, I haven’t had the chance to work on a playwright’s complete works. To translate them, I mean. So, in that sense, I know them as well as any reader who appreciates them. I believe that every translator at some point in their career feels an appreciation for the great gift of unlocking a text thanks to translation. Anyone who conducts a study, writes an essay or whatever, deals with a subject thoroughly, and gets to discover its many aspects, that are, in fact, endless. One becomes richer with every text. Another thing is that looking back at a translation one did years ago, there’s always a chance that they don’t find it satisfactory. They may prefer to start the whole thing all over again, or make changes.

I guess that theatrical translation review is rare, as it’s a very specific field, but still, have you ever received criticism or a review that made you change your original approach?

To be honest, very few of my translations have been staged to this day, so… I’m not well-known like Giorgos Depastas, so that people write about my work. Still, regarding the latest play I did, which was seen by many people, it was very important for me to get feedback and everyone had good things to say about it. What’s funny is that my main profession is writing theatrical reviews. And, admittedly, us critics usually don’t write that much about the translation. This happens because often critics are not familiar with the original play. They don’t research or read the play first. Personally, whenever I wrote a review, I always requested to see the text first. For me, the text is an essential and fundamental element, in order to revisit a theatrical performance and associate it with the original canvas. I need to understand what the company built on. What was the material they used? Because oftentimes our memory of a play exists at one level, but combined with the knowledge of the primary material it was built on, we have the fundamental tools in order to write an honest review.

What about the future of translation in Greece? Are you optimistic?

Yes, I am rather optimistic. If we focus on theatrical translation, there are hundreds of plays currently staged. I believe it could become a case study. Then again, there are many theatrical studies’ departments in Greece. Which is also a mystery. Most of them, though, are literature oriented. Thankfully, there are still the departments of Thessaloniki and Nafplio that can enrich the theatrical scene with talented young artists. Since there are that many theatrical stages, there certainly is a need for translations. Theater always seeks new material. It can’t leave plays unnoticed. It has its ears open and searches for new texts and styles that may exist. That research brings forward texts that need to be translated, so there’s work. There’s an issue with those who do this and translation is how they make a living. Does their work receive the appreciation it deserves? I’m not so sure. Especially in the case of theatrical translators. If you’re lucky enough to translate a play that is staged by a National Theater, or is played at Epidaurus at the Athens Epidaurus festival, then it’s fine. Otherwise, I think that translators only get a pittance for their work. I don’t know if the same goes for literature, but in theater there are issues to be fixed.

What would you advise aspiring young translators?

To love words and to not yield when facing obstacles. And to read many translations. And to go to the theater often. I don’t think that one can translate a play, unless they understand it. If one is unfamiliar with theater and doesn’t go to see plays frequently, if they’re lucky enough to attend good performances… Because the way theater is done nowadays, in terms of acting, is very different. Actors today don’t act the way others were taught at the National Theater academy back in the day. There was a time when we stood there and recited pompously. Today there are new elements of rhythm, natural acting and physicality. The translator should be aware of such developments. And also, they should research the place that each play comes from. When they come across what a playwright has written, they should find out what the origins of their material was. What kind of plays have they seen in their country? You can’t just choose a play and translate it without knowing its origins and context.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for giving us all the opportunity to speak. I think it’s really significant.