Category: Theater

In which Jose Amador discusses Maria Glanz’s See Me Naked and finds that the title is simply the lure, whether the production delivers on the promise of the title is just an excuse to get one thinking about society’s general preconceptions about the nude body.

Jane Austen’s novel Emma has proven strong enough over the past two hundred years to connect with many different audiences. It has also proven flexible enough to withstand the separate approaches of faithful rendition and tangential adaptation. It has withstood both stiff, starchy costume drama versions such as the BBC miniseries and even modern-dress musical versions.

As Argentine theater director German D’Alessandro says, “We are still in search of what is really our tradition in theatre and culture generally speaking.” This is also, however, a great strength, as Mr. D’Alessandro notes: “Because we are not part of any important tradition we can risk more than other countries.” This risk is a beautiful thing that allows for many beautiful plays like El pasado es un animal grotesco.

Tartuffe is a neoclassical play. In order to translate it into English for a modern American audience, one must choose not only between meaning and sound, prose and poetry, but also between spirit and accuracy, idiom and trope.