The translation you are about to read is unfinished. A translation for the stage does not find its final form until it has been spoken by actors and through them is transformed. This is particularly true with Pascal Rambert's plays, most of which eschew punctuation to invite the actors to create their own rhythms and find the meanings within them. Though the many references in his dense texts are absolutely specific, Rambert loves to allow for ambiguity about where a thought ends and the next one starts. Let the actor decide, or the audience. And let the translator try his best to honor those ambiguities, while being as precise as Rambert is in putting down every word of texts that at first glance appear like torrents, words spewing onto the page from a generous source. This makes particular sense in the apocalyptic context of 3 Annunciations: time is running...
Translating Pascal Rambert
Nicholas Elliott is a writer and translator based in New York City. He has worked extensively in theatre in New York and France, with artists and companies including Richard Maxwell's New York City Players, The Wooster Group, Jeanne Balibar, Daniel Fish, Ying Liu, and Théâtre du Phare, in addition to Pascal Rambert. He is a contributing editor for film at BOMB magazine and was the American correspondent for the French film magazine Cahiers du cinéma from 2009 to 2020.
Nicholas Elliott is a writer and translator based in New York City. He has worked extensively in theatre in New York and France, with artists and companies including Richard Maxwell's New York City Players, The Wooster Group, Jeanne Balibar, Daniel Fish, Ying Liu, and Théâtre du Phare, in addition to Pascal Rambert. He is a contributing editor for film at BOMB magazine and was the American correspondent for the French film magazine Cahiers du cinéma from 2009 to 2020.
Nicholas Elliott; Translating Pascal Rambert. PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 2022; 44 (2 (131)): 120–121. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/pajj_a_00617
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