Screenplay translation
(2021) Untitled Screenplay Translation and Adaptation, commissioned by Genomedia.
Unpublished theatre translation commissions
(2021) Coup de Grâce [Golpe de gracia] by Almudena Ramírez-Pantanella, commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre as part of the Royal Court Summer Residency 2019: Focus Europe international residencies programme.
(2020) Operating Theatre [Quirófano] by Almudena Ramírez-Pantanella. Commissioned by the author and funded by the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, SGAE).
(2019) A Universe (Alone) [Un universo (solo)] by Fernando de Retes and María Prado. Commissioned by Cuartoymitad Teatro.
(2019) Untitled Theatre Translation. Literal translation commissioned by Playful Productions.
(2017) Mendoza by Antonio Zúñiga and Juan Carrillo. Commissioned by the CASA Latin American Theatre Festival.
(2013) Punishment Without Revenge [El castigo sin venganza] by Lope de Vega. Commissioned by the Theatre Royal Bath.
(2011) Inside the Earth [Dentro de la tierra] by Paco Bezerra. Commissioned by Caos Editorial.
Winner of the 2007 Calderón de la Barca prize
Dentro de la tierra, on which Inside the Earth was based, was awarded the 2007 Premio Nacional de Teatro Calderón de la Barca by the Ministry of Culture through the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) in recognition of merit and to encourage the work of young dramatists.
Find out more about the play and its 2017 production at the Centro Dramático Nacional here.
(2009) Agrippina [Agripina] by Fermín Cabal. Commissioned by Caos Editorial.
(2009) The Cartographer [El cartógrafo] by Juan Mayorga. Commissioned by the Centro Dramático Nacional.
Published theatre translations
(2021) Masters of the Universe [Los amos del mundo] by Almudena Ramírez-Pantanella. Published by Inti Press.
(2019) The Reality [La realidad] by Denise Despeyroux. Published by Ediciones Antígona.
(2016) No Direction [Sin dirección] by Miguel Alcantud and Santiago Molero. Published by Words without Borders. Read the complete microplay online here.
(2014) The Cartographer. Warsaw, 1: 400,000 [Extract] by Juan Mayorga. Published by Palgrave Macmillan.
(2007) Mad King Ludwig [Rey loco] by Lourdes Ortíz. Published by Caos Editorial.
(2006) Nina by José Ramón Fernández. Published by Caos Editorial.
(2005) On the Rock [En la roca] by Ernesto Caballero. Published by Caos Editorial.
Theatre translation performances and productions
(2023–2024) The House of Bernarda Alba [La casa de Bernarda Alba], by Alice Birch, after Federico García Lorca, based on my 2019 literal translation commissioned by Playful Productions. Full professional production at the National Theatre London 16 November 2023–6 January 2024.
Literal translation for the theatre
Variation is one of the delights of translation, which is why fresh translations of theatre texts are always desirable, even when the intended production is of a canonical classic that has been translated many times, such as Lorca’s La casa de Bernada Alba.
When I am commissioned to provide a literal translation, my process is not only to construct a fine-detail translation of the Spanish-language original, but also to develop a specialist research study aimed at supporting my clients to understand cultural nuances and context.
(2019) The Reality [La realidad] by Denise Despeyroux. Commissioned by the Cervantes Theatre London for performance as a full professional production at the Cervantes Theatre London 1–18 May 2019.
Twin sisters attempt an awkward exercise of pretending to be someone else, taking them close to the line that separates good and evil; the love of life and destruction; lucidity and madness. What do you do to pose as someone inside of you? Can you love the living in the same way that you have love for the dead? Is darkness hindered by light?
(SOURCE: Cervantes Theatre website)
(2021) Masters of the Universe [Los amos del mundo] by Almudena Ramírez-Pantanella. Commissioned by the author and performed as a rehearsed professional reading at the Cervantes Theatre London on 5 July 2018 as part of the Out of the Wings Festival 2–6 July 2018.
Winner of the 2015 Calderón de la Barca prize
Los amos del mundo, on which Masters of the Universe was based, was awarded the 2015 Premio Calderón de la Barca by the Ministry of Culture through the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) in recognition of merit and to encourage the work of young dramatists.
Listen to Almudena talk about the play and hear about my involvement in the translation in an interview for the Radio Nacional de España La sala podcast on 5 February 2018 here.
Two lost souls, separated by a train platform. A shocking event that will change one commuter’s life forever. Miguel, a confident young intern in a flashy suit, seems to have it all. He’s got a cushy job waiting for him when he finishes his placement in the city, and he has a nice middle class family egging him on.
For the moment, he’s the master of all he surveys. But what happens when events take a course of their own, and the very things you thought were sure in life don’t make sense anymore? What happens when your only hope is hopelessness and the only thing you can depend on is yourself? What happens when the masters of the universe find they no longer have any power?
(SOURCE: 2018 Out of the Wings Festival website)
(2019) The Reality [La realidad] by Denise Despeyroux. Commissioned by the Cervantes Theatre London for performance as a rehearsed professional reading at the Cervantes Theatre London on 2 June 2018.
(2017) Mendoza by Antonio Zúñiga and Juan Carrillo. Commissioned by the CASA Latin American Theatre Festival for performance as interlingual surtitles at the Southwark Playhouse 24–28 October 2017.
An earthy, radical reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth set during Mexico’s War of Independence in the early 19th Century. General Mendoza is returning to camp when he stumbles across an old witch who prophesises that he will come to lead the army. Convinced into action by his wife, he begins a chain of grisly murders that will come to seem endless.Inspired by Juan Rulfo and Elena Garro and deeply connected to the Mexican soil, this thrilling fast-paced and blood-soaked ensemble production exposes Mexico’s downward spiral into the gruesome violence that exploded into the world’s consciousness with the massacre of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa.
(SOURCE: Southwark Playhouse website)
(2016) No Direction [Sin dirección] by Miguel Alcantud and Santiago Molero. Commissioned by Words without Borders magazine for performance as a rehearsed professional reading at the Martin E. Segal Theater New York on 13 December 2016.
December 2016 issue of Words without Borders
I was asked to guest edit the December 2016 issue of Words without Borders magazine, and chose the emerging area of microtheatre translation. I ran an international call for submissions, edited the successful plays for publication and helped support a series of rehearsed readings on 13 December 2016 at the Martin E. Segal Theater New York.
No Direction, by Miguel Alcantud and Santiago Molero, and translated by Sarah Maitland, makes the most of microtheater’s capacity to explore new modes of dramaturgy. The setting is tense, claustrophobic, and confusing by design. A man appears to be locked inside a basement or bunker room. There is a woman, Ana, who insists that he cannot be let out. Although the audience never learns his name, we are pulled inexorably into the mysteries surrounding the man’s evolving story. Alcantud and Molero craft their play in a space of temporal dislocation that requires spectators to collude in the destruction of any narrative structure that has a clear beginning and end.
(SOURCE: Words without Borders website)
(2015) Nina by José Ramón Fernández. Performed by the Spanish Theatre Company as a rehearsed professional reading at the Canada Water Cultural Space London on 22 May 2015.
(2013–2014) Punishment Without Revenge [El castigo sin venganza], by Meredith Oakes, after Lope de Vega, based on my 2013 literal translation commissioned by the Theatre Royal Bath. Full professional production at the Theatre Royal Bath 26 September–21 December 2013, the Arcola Theatre 11 January–15 March 2014, and the Belgrade Theatre 28 March–19 April 2014.
Punishment without Revenge is a dark and thrilling drama, an audacious blend of unbearable tension and delicious comedy, which both terrifies and delights. Regarded as the greatest tragedy of the Spanish Golden Age and the finest play of its presiding genius, Lope de Vega, this elegant work is set in the dangerous and glamorous world of Renaissance Italy.The Duke of Ferrara has lived a wild and unconventional life. An infamous womaniser, his only son, Federico, is a bastard whom he dreams will one day succeed him. When his subjects demand that he marry and provide them with the stability of a legitimate heir, the proud and beautiful Cassandra, Duchess of Mantua, is sent to be his bride.But everything does not fall happily into place.A passionate love develops – but not between the Duke and his Duchess – and, in a culture where honour is the highest virtue, there can be only one outcome…
(SOURCE: Theatre Royal Bath website)
(2011) Inside the Earth [Dentro de la tierra] by Paco Bezerra. Commissioned by Caos Editorial for performance as a rehearsed professional reading at the Rose Theatre London, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance 31 May–2 June 2011 and the New Diorama Theatre London on 3 June 2011.
(2010) On the Rock [En la roca] by Ernesto Caballero. Performed as a rehearsed professional reading at the Brian Friel Theatre Belfast on 26 November 2010.
(2009) Agrippina [Agripina] by Fermín Cabal. Commissioned by Caos Editorial for performance as a rehearsed professional reading at the Rose Theatre London, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance on 13 October 2009 and the Unicorn Theatre London on 16 October 2009.
(2007) Mad King Ludwig [Rey loco] by Lourdes Ortíz. Commissioned by Caos Editorial for performance as a rehearsed professional reading at the Rose Theatre London, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance on 26 October 2007.
(2006) Nina by José Ramón Fernández. Commissioned by Caos Editorial for performance as a rehearsed professional reading at the Rose Theatre London, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance on 11 May 2006.
(2005) On the Rock [En la roca] by Ernesto Caballero. Commissioned by Caos Editorial for performance as a rehearsed professional reading at the Rose Theatre London, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance on 28 April 2005.
Subtitling and subtitle arrangement
(2020) Quiero ser enjambre (2020) by Juan Mayorga. Subtitle arrangement commissioned by the author.
(2019) A Universe (Alone) [Un universo (solo)] by Fernando de Retes and María Prado. Subtitling and subtitle arrangement commissioned by Cuartoymitad Teatro.
Academic translation
(2012) Rituals of Defiance: Past Resistance, Present Ambiguity by Felipe Castro Gutiérrez. Published by Duke University Press.