Specificities of translating for the theatre sector

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THE QUALITY OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION SHOULD BE MONITORED AND TRANSLATORS’ POOR WORKING CONDITIONS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED

Audiovisual translators face many of the same challenges as literary translators. However, a general reduction in quality is an issue which is more specific to audiovisual translation. The film and audiovisual sector, out of respect for the creators and the audience, needs to start a debate on the quality of subtitles.

The following aspects should be taken into account:

 a shared set of ‘basic rules’ should be developed for the audiovisual creative sector, applicable to individual EU countries and international players/platforms operating within the EU, setting a quality (57) and working conditions framework that would substantially improve the audiovisual translation ecosystem;

 there should be no hierarchy and no difference in rates between subtitling for blockbuster films and subtitling for

‘mundane’ streaming shows – highquality audiovisual translation should be a requirement for all European audiovisual productions, including heritage films;

 with streaming services preparing to apply for EU subsidies/grants, high-quality, wellpaid subtitling should be a necessary criterion for granting funds;

 professional translators must play a crucial role in any application of crowdsourcing or

AI to audiovisual translation – AI translation /

MT should not be used only for the purpose of cost-cutting, at the expense of quality;

 audiovisual translators’ intellectual property rights should be properly recognised and implemented on an equal basis in all EU member countries, including authors’ rights and fair remuneration of such rights, in accordance with national and international legislations and treaties, and in all aspects of audiovisual translation, from the translation of screenplays to the subtitling, dubbing and voice-over translation of finished works.

Specificities of translating for the theatre sector

The first specificity of this profession lies in the delicate and distinctive artistic and technical nature of its practice. The exercise of performing plays in the original language, accompanied by surtitles, aims to facilitate the circulation of works and to attract a wider audience, while preserving the profound singularity or cultural authenticity of the original. Surtitling in the performing arts sector strives to respect the integrity of both the dramatic poem and the performance. It preserves the intimacy between the actors’ performance and the language of the culture in which they express themselves, while allowing the audience to understand what is being shown on the stage. To this extent, it remains strongly connected to the promotion of multilingualism.

Translating for theatre remains a delicate operation from a technical point of view and requires a specific approach. It is not sufficient to translate the text and then create surtitles; it also necessary for someone to display the surtitles at the right time. The uncertainty of stage performances and line delivery timing forbids the use of software. ‘Toppers’ and ‘topping’ are therefore essential in ensuring that a play’s surtitling is well timed.

A second specificity is that surtitling for theatre is expensive, and in this regard it differs from cinema subtitling. Preparing the surtitling for a live performance takes much longer than the performance itself, and requires considerable effort, as surtitling must be rehearsed to ensure

that the audience receives maximum benefit from it. An additional 48 hours of rehearsal time for the entire cast is necessary for surtitled productions.

Finally, performing arts surtitling appeals to a narrower pool of professionals, with a deep knowledge of theatre and the performing arts’ own specificities. It attracts mostly actors and individuals already involved in the theatre sector. The professionalisation curve of the sector is directly influenced by the national theatre and opera traditions in each Member State, from German repertory theatre companies, to touring theatre tradition, as is the case in France.

Drawing upon the steady needs of the theatre institutions, one of the very few existing European companies specialising in theatre surtitling, Panthea, offers surtitling solutions for performing arts centres and provides services including the editing and translation of surtitles, technical implementation in venues and service during performances.

The status of theatre translators, like that of other translators, remains precarious. In addition, the sector suffers from a lack of horizontal structures, dialogue and pan-European organisations able to push for the harmonisation of the sector’s rules.

In this respect, the French association Maison Antoine Vitez (MAV) provides a promising alternative collective organisation model. Bringing together a broad range of professionals and stakeholders from the performing arts sectors, all volunteers, it aims to enhance the quality and visibility of theatrical translation while advocating for fair recognition of the theatrical translators’ role.

Maison Antoine Vitez

Established in 1991, MAV is an association that brings together linguists and theatre practitioners to promote theatrical translation and a repertoire of foreign contemporary dramaturgy. It embodies an active space for ideas, innovation-sharing and trust-building among academics, researchers, publishers, directors, literary advisors, actors, institutions, theatres and dramatic companies.

Its actions take shape at the crossroads of the French theatrical world, under the supervision and financing of the French DirectorateGeneral for Artistic Creation of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. It commissions the translation of, on average, 30 foreign-language plays each year. It can cater for 30 foreign languages thanks to a pool of more than 400 translators.

All the partners (theatres, festivals, institutes, etc.) with which MAV organises events also represent complementary sources of funding.

MAV’s translators are grouped by linguistic family and participate in the work of more than 25 literary committees. Between 25 and 30 translation grants (of EUR 2 500) are awarded to translators each year. The members are responsible for gathering information, making contact with authors and their publishers, reading the texts and proposing a selection of plays that they deem appropriate for translation, either by themselves or by external translators.