Decomposed Theatre: Re-composing Theatrical Forms in the Time of Pandemic

Authors

  • Jozefina Komporaly University of the Arts, London UK Author
  • Kate O’Connor Independent Researcher and theatre director, London UK Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37130/s277y068

Keywords:

Matei Vişniec/Matéi Visniec, Decomposed Theatre, translation, adaptation, radio drama, documentation, pandemic

Abstract

This essay reflects on a practice-as-research project at the intersection of stage translation, live performance and documentation, culminating in an audio recording intended for dissemination in the UK and US. Departing from a brief examination of previous English translations and productions of Decomposed Theatre by award-winning French-Romanian author Matei Vişniec (also known as Matéi Visniec in an international context), the essay engages with the process of workshopping the text and creating a performance version specifically for radio. The discussion focuses on the importance of fusing the different facets of creative practice with contextual and transcultural considerations, and addresses synergies between theory and praxis. It shows the fluidity between processes of writing, translation, directing and acting, drawing attention to the non-hierarchical ethos governing the collaborations involved. The project, created at the height of the Covid pandemic, came about as a response to the restrictions experienced by live performance, and offered an insight into the ways in which theatre artists tried to adapt to this unique status quo in terms of form, content and their relationship with audiences.

Author Biographies

  • Jozefina Komporaly, University of the Arts, London UK

    Jozefina Komporaly is a London-based theatre scholar, academic and translator from Romanian and Hungarian into English, specializing in drama and contemporary literature. Her translations, showcasing the work of authors such as Andrea Tompa, András Visky, Árpád Kun, Béla Markó, Cristian Fulaş, Elise Wilk, Matéi Visniec, Mihaela Miroiu, Tatiana Ţîbuleac, appeared in Asymptote, Baffler, Columbia Journal, Hungarian Literature Online, Los Angeles Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, Poet Lore, The Continental, Words without Borders, World Literature Today. She is editor and co- translator of the collections How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients and Other Plays (Seagull, 2015), András Visky’s Barrack Dramaturgy (Intellect, 2017) and Plays from Romania: Dramaturgies of Subversion (Bloomsbury, 2021), and author of numerous publications on translation, adaptation and theatre including Radical Revival as Adaptation (Palgrave, 2017). Her translations were produced by Foreign Affairs, Trap Door, Theatre Y, Trafika Europe, and recently published volumes include Mr K Released by Matéi Visniec (finalist for the 2021 EBRD Literature Prize) and Story of a Stammer by Gábor Vida (Seagull Books, 2022). Her forthcoming translation Home by Andrea Tompa (Istros Books, 2024) was the recipient of a PEN Translates Grant. She is a member of the UK Translators Association. Her website is available at: https:// jozefinakomporaly.com/

  • Kate O’Connor, Independent Researcher and theatre director, London UK

    Kate O’Connor is a theatre director with a background in international work. She is a member of Out of the Wings collective (Kings College London), who develop translations of plays from Spanish and Portuguese. In 2019 she directed the English language premiere of award-winning Spanish play Cuzco at Theater503 in Battersea. She is currently Associate Director with Frozen Light theater company, and has previously been an Associate at the Gate Theater, Company of Angels, Associate Director on Travesties (West End) and World Factory (Young Vic), and Researcher on Lola Arias’ Minefield (LIFT/ Royal court). She trained with Philippe Gaulier and was a finalist in the JMK Award 2012 and 2014. Her website is available at: https://www. kateoconnor.co.uk/

References

Banu, G. (1996) “Matéi Visniec ou la Décomposition” [Matéi Visniec or Decomposition], preface to Visniec, Matéi (1996) Théâtre Décomposé [Decomposed Theatre]. Paris: Editions l’Harmattan.

Creţu, B. (2003) “Situaţia limită în dramaturgia lui Matei Vişniec” [“The Limit Experience in Matéi Visniec’s Drama”], Convorbiri literare, October 2003.

Fischer-Lichte, E. (2008) The Transformative Power of Performance. Trans. Saskya Iris Jain. London: Routledge.

Ghiţulescu, M. (2008) “Viziunile lui Matei Vişniec”, in Istoria literaturii române: Dramaturgia [“Matéi Visniec’s Visions”, in The History of Romanian Literature: Playwriting]. Bucureşti: Editura Academiei Române.

Klaic ́, D. (2009) “Preface: Retrieved from Oblivion”, in Gerould, Daniel (ed.) Playwrights before the Fall: Eastern European Drama in Times of Revolution, New York: Martin E. Segal Centre Publications, pp. xi–xxi.

Komporaly, J. ed. (2015) Matéi Visniec: How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients and Other Plays. Seagull Books.

Komporaly, J (2020) “András Visky & Matéi Visniec: Challenging boundaries of cultural specificity”, in Contemporary European Playwrights, eds. Maria M Delgado, Bryce Lease and Dan Rebellato (Routledge, 2020), pp. 76-94.

Komporaly, J (2021) “Decomposed Theatre” by Matéi Visniec, trans. J. Komporaly, The Mercurian, Volume 8, number 4. (Fall).

Komporaly, J. ed. (2021) Plays from Romania: Dramaturgies of Subversion (Bloomsbury). https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/plays-from-romania-dramaturgies-of- subversion-9781350214316/

Magiaru, D. (2010) Mirajul cuvintelor calde. Bucureşti: Editura Institutul Cultural Român.

Visniec, M. (1996) Théâtre Décomposé. Paris: Editions l’Harmattan.

Visniec, M. (2013) L’homme dans le cercle/Omul din cerc, illustrated by Andra Badulesco and Iuri Isar. Paris: Editions Transignum.

Decomposed Theatre (2020) Directed by Josiah Davis for the International Voices Project Chicago. https://www.ivpchicago.org/calendar/2020/decomposedtheatre-romania

Decomposed Theatre (2020-21) Directed by Josiah Davis, Marian Masoliver, Nema Lahon, Michael Mejia, Zachary Nichol, Cristina Pronzati, Catherine Sullivan, Nicole Wiesner, Katarzyna Winska. https://trapdoortheatre.com/decomposed-theatre/

Decomposed Theatre (2021) Written by Matéi Visniec. Directed by Kate O’Connor, translated into English by Jozefina Komporaly, sound design Sam Halmarack. Performed by Maria Forrester. A Trafika Europe Radio/ Romanian Cultural Institute New York/ University of the Arts London (Research at Camberwell, Chelsea, Wimbledon Colleges of Arts) production, with support from Romanian Cultural Institute London.

Decomposed Theatre (2021) Directed by Kate O’Connor [Trafika Europe Radio, first broadcast on Saturday, 24 April 2021] https://www.trafikaeurope.org/podcast/trafika-europe-radio-theater/?c=04007ae3e449

Decomposed Theatre (2021) Directed by Kate O’Connor [retransmitted by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York and London] https://omny.fm/shows/trafika-europe-radio-3/decomposed-theatre?fbclid=IwAR0cj9ZHCzIEjnCskTWd4_nrSNd3ZMErEP8wg54A8w5zeg4DgCt_glHowNI

Decomposed Theatre (2021) Directed by Kate O’Connor [Omnibus Theatre London]. https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/engine-room-decomposed-theatre/; https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=TCvhmzXX7L8

Downloads

Published

2023-06-03

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 1 (2023): Matei Vişniec’s Dramaturgy in the Context of Interdisciplinary Artistic Research / Beyond the Human: Theatre, Robots and Social Realities

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Komporaly, J., & O’Connor, K. (2023). Decomposed Theatre: Re-composing Theatrical Forms in the Time of Pandemic. CONCEPT, 26(1), 71-89. https://doi.org/10.37130/s277y068