Free Thought Forum – July 19, 2009
From Russia with Love: Translation & Collaboration in Summerset Theatre’s The Good Doctor
Collaboration is the core of any theatrical production. Not only is it a professional practice, it is also an ethical practice, requiring individuals to contribute their particular skills to a sum greater than its parts. Each member of the production team – whether backstage or onstage – must not only fulfill their roles to their utmost ability, they must mutually respect one another’s talents and allow their own work to be positively influenced by the creative choices of others, most especially the playwright’s. Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor adds further dimensions to theatre arts’ collaborative nature. Taken from the Great Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s short stories, The Good Doctor is not only translated from Russian to English, but from the short story form to dramaturgy and from a late nineteenth-century Russian to a contemporary North American cultural milieu. Dr. Lauren Love, UW-Baraboo professor and the Artistic Director of Summerset Theatre, will discuss the several steps that bring a translated and adapted work from the page to the stage and the attendant aesthetic and ethical choices posed by this collaborative creative process.
