Translating Canada

Northern Lights in German Theatres

Northern Lights in German Theatres: How Quebec Plays Come to Germany Andreas Jandl Berlin This chapter1 explores the different ways in which theatre texts from francophone Canada travel to Germany. It examines the support available from European and Canadian institutions and the roles played by agencies and publishers. A case study of the way Daniel Danis’s Le chant du Dire-Dire travelled to Germany provides a real-life example. NO DIRECT CONTACT There is no direct route to Germany for French Canadian dramatists, a situation quite unlike that of Anglo-American authors. German publishers seldom look for new authors beyond the offers made by North American agencies. The Anglo-American agencies2 that handle promising pieces, however, usually cover the United States and English-speaking Canada; they do not deal with French Canada. In New York and Hollywood, dramatic work from Quebec is relatively unknown and therefore hardly ever offered by these agencies. German publishers’ automatic interest in work from the United States does not apply to French Canada; hardly any German publishers maintain regular contacts in Montreal, let alone a literary scout. Thus, if you are a successful writer in 0RQWUHDO \RX DUH GHÀQLWHO\ QRW JRLQJ WR EH QRWLFHG E\ *HUPDQ SXEOLVKLQJ houses. Montreal has one of the most productive and most innovative theatre landscapes of the world, yet, when Daniel Danis’s Le chant du Dire-Dire premiered at Espace Go in Montreal in 1998, very few people in Germany took note of 1. This chapter was translated from German by Luise von Flotow. 2. Large North American agencies such as the William Morris Agency, International Creative Management, and Creative Artists Agency as well as smaller ones such as Brett Adams, Writers and Artists, the Gerch Agency, Abram’s Artists, the Joyce Ketay Agency, and the Artists Agency represent dramatic authors as well as actors, singers, set designers, et cetera. "% ANDREAS JANDL it. This “gaze past Quebec” can undoubtedly be linked to the fact that German publishers and editors who have an interest in francophone material from beyond the boundaries of France are rare. ACCESS VIA FRANCE Because Quebec and France share the same language, the most likely route for French Canadian works to enter Germany is via France. But even within the French-German exchange, there is no “high road” for Quebec authors; Canadian authors have to share the attention of the French-speaking theatre world with their colleagues from France. Moreover, the types of plays that are successful in France do not necessarily correspond to the taste of the German public. Generally, German audiencesareclosertotheBritishintheirtheatreaesthetics,andBritishdramatistsare staged much more often in Germany than their French counterparts. The Quebec WH[WVLPSRUWHGWR)UDQFHKRZHYHUDUHPRUHOLNHO\WRFRUUHVSRQGVSHFLÀFDOO\WR Frenchtastes. This is why certain Quebec pieces that might be of interest to German audiences never even arrive in France and thus do not make it to Germany either. Quebec theatre people, for their part, do not make contact with Germany a ÀUVWSULRULW\HLWKHU4XHEHFDJHQFLHV3 maintain close contact with England and France, but Germany is not in their line of vision. Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin seem to be much farther away than Paris or London. And few if any Quebec agents speak German. Table 12.1 shows some of the ways that a play from Quebec might reach a German theatre publisher or land straight in the hands of a German producer, each column suggesting a different country as a possible point of departure. TABLE 12.1 Quebec Plays: Routes to Germany CANADA FRANCE/BELGIUM GERMANY GERMAN THEATRE PRODUCTIONS CEAD via newsletter, website, Week of Dramaturgy, international translators’ seminars SACD via Actes de theatre, website, contacts with German publishers, awards 3. The most important are Agence Goodwin, Agence Duchesne, Première Scène, and Act’Art. NORTHERN LIGHTS IN GERMAN THEATRES "& CANADA FRANCE/BELGIUM GERMANY GERMAN THEATRE AGENCIES &DQDGLDQDJHQWV Agence Goodwin, Agence Duchesne )UHQFKWKHDWUH Théâtre de la Colline, Théâtre Ouvert German radio SURGXFWLRQV DLR, WDR, SR PUBLISHERS Canadian SXEOLVKHUV Leméac, Dramaturges éditeurs, Les herbes rouges, Duchesne éditeur French SXEOLVKHUV$FWHV Sud Papier, Arche éditeur, Éditions Lansmann (Belgium) German SXEOLVKHUV Rowohlt, S. Fischer, Desch, Pegasus, KornWimmer , Per Lauke Dramatic advisers, freelance directors, and groups THEATRE FESTIVALS Canadian IHVWLYDOV)HVWLYDO des Amériques, Carrefour international du théâtre )UHQFKIHVWLYDOV Festival d’Avignon, Festival de Maubeuge, Mousson d’été, Pont-à-Mousson German IHVWLYDOV6SLHODUW Munich, Berliner Festspiele...