Shakespeare and the Spanish Comedia is a nearly unique transnational study of the theater / performance traditions of early modern Spain and England. Divided into three parts, the book focuses first on translating for the stage, examining diverse approaches to the topic. It asks, for example, whether plays should be translated to sound as if they were originally written in the target language or if their "foreignness" should be maintained and even highlighted. Section II deals with interpretation and considers such issues as uses of polyphony, the relationship between painting and theater, and representations of women. Section III highlights performance issues such as music in modern performances of classical theater and the construction of stage character. Written by a highly respected group of British and American scholars and theater practitioners, this book challenges the traditional divide between the academy and stage practitioners and between one theatrical culture and another.
Barbara Mujica is Professor of Spanish and Associated Faculty of Performing Arts at Georgetown University, where she directs El Retablo, a Spanish theater group.
Introduction Shattering Boundaries: Susan Fischer's Approach to Theater Studies Barbara Mujica Part I: Translation Chapter 1 Performing Translation: The [Dangerous] Mobilities of Cultural Identity Katherine Faull Chapter 2 "Eking Out" Performance with the Mind David Johnston Chapter 3 The Translation of La vida es sueno for a Twenty-First Century Anglophone Audience Jonathan Thacker Chapter 4 Translating Hamlet for the Spanish Actor Denis Rafter Part II: Interpretation Chapter 5 The High Anxiety of Influence: Caro, Zayas, Sor Juana, and the New Arts Edward H. Friedman Chapter 6 Versions of the Battle of Cadiz, 1625 William R. Blue Chapter 7 Polyphony and Calderon de la Barca's La dama duende Charles Victor Ganelin Chapter 8 The Portrait of a Pious Widow: Francisco de Ribalta and Lope de Vega's La viuda valenciana Frederick A. de Armas Chapter 9 Women Tame and Untamed: Two Dutiful Daughters in the Romance de la doncella guerrera and Luis Velez de Guevara's La serrana de la Vera Emilie L. Bergmann Chapter 10 Cultural Capital and Comedy: Talking Heads in Guillen de Castro's Las mocedades del Cid Mary Malcolm Gaylord Chapter 11 Shakespeare's Imagination Michael Payne Part III: Performance Chapter 12 Constructing Stage Character: The Duke of Ferrara in Lope de Vega's El castigo sin venganza Isaac Benabu Chapter 13 Facing the Music: Introducing Song into the Comedia Barbara Mujica Chapter 14 The Autonomy of Henry IV, Part Two James C. Bulman Chapter 15 Staging Options in the Early Texts of Hamlet David Bevington Works Cited Selected Publications of Susan L. Fischer Contributors
This volume of insightful and intelligent essays should be on the reading list of any scholar of early modern European theater. * Renaissance Quarterly * The articles published here are solid contributions to questions of translation, interpretation and staging of altomoderno Spanish and English theater, and therefore will be of great interest to researchers. * Anuario Lope de Vega. Texto, literatura, cultura *
