Review: In 'Translations,' what's lost when language is looted
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, November 22, 2024


Review: In 'Translations,' what's lost when language is looted
John Keating as a bookworm with a mythical crush, and Mary Wiseman as a milkmaid with her sights set on America in “Translations,” at the Irish Repertory Theater in New York, on Oct. 19, 2023. An exquisite revival of Brian Friel’s 1980 play at the Irish Repertory Theater is the first of three there by the Irish author. (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)

by Naveen Kumar



NEW YORK, NY.- A drunken philosopher alights on what may be his pinnacle argument: That we are shaped not by the facts of history, but by our imagination of it. “We must never cease renewing those images,” he says, or we’ll stop living.

That thirsty scholar is Hugh (Seán McGinley), who runs one of Ireland’s clandestine (and illegal) hedge-schools, teaching a rustic assembly of adult pupils out of his dilapidated shanty. “Translations,” from 1980, is the first play in the Friel Project, a season of three works at the Irish Repertory Theater. A modest yet exquisite revival directed by Doug Hughes, it makes a rigorous case not only for Brian Friel’s preeminence as an interpreter of Irish national identity, but for the vitality of art in deciphering life.

It’s 1833 in Friel’s fictional small town, Ballybeg, where a sweet, putrid smell rising from the potato fields forebodes famine and an ingress of redcoats threatens to blight the local heritage. A rebellion in 1798 led not to independence but to forced union with Britain in the United Kingdom. And now, British soldiers, including the listless romantic Lt. Yolland (Raffi Barsoumian), are mapping the countryside and Anglicizing Irish place-names. One of Hugh’s two sons, Owen (Seth Numrich), has become not just a translator, but a champion for the “King’s good English,” more enthused about the endeavor than even Yolland. The actors lend the fraternity between these young men an energy and curiosity that emphasizes the consequences of what they’re doing: renaming a homeland out from under its inhabitants’ feet.

Yolland is the one who hesitates, though not on moral grounds: A hapless son of empire, he fetishizes feeling like an outsider, growing sweet on the sound of Irish vowels and even sweeter on Maire (Mary Wiseman), a milkmaid with her sights set on America. Their giddy, headlong infatuation is fueled by mutual incomprehension, before a sharp turn whose potentially tragic fallout Wiseman plays with affecting transparency.

Friel’s shrewd spin on the pastoral drama is grounded in the convictions of these carefully drawn characters. But the play also confronts soaring questions about the nature of language — how it connects people to their homes (the trodden-earth set is by Charlie Corcoran) and to one another, and what happens when a native tongue is erased.

Owen Campbell delivers a quieter register of heartbreak as Hugh’s humbler son, Manus, whose dream of preserving homegrown education, with Maire at his side, becomes another colonial casualty. Embodying extreme ends of the communicative spectrum are Sarah (Erin Wilhelmi), a presumed mute who struggles to articulate her name, and Jimmy Jack (John Keating), a disheveled bookworm who waxes at length in Greek and Latin about his crush on Athene, the goddess of wisdom.

Dressed in clay-colored peasant garb by Alejo Vietti, and tenderly lit by Michael Gottlieb, each of these characters is illustrated with a Rembrandt-like specificity. As their portraits make clear, it’s essential to keep reimagining the plight of those consumed by imperial appetites. Doing so may lead to deeper understanding among us.



‘Translations’

Through Dec. 31 at the Irish Repertory Theater, Manhattan; irishrep.org. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

December 14, 2023

Dream of talking to Vincent van Gogh? AI tries to resurrect the artist.

Earliest meetings of Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys revisited in exhibition at Thaddaeus Ropac

At Trump's fraud trial, a courtroom artist with a different view

Anderson Cooper's newest assignment: Grief (His Own)

'Birthday Boy: Jubilation and Melancholia' by Zipora Fried is his third exhibition at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Edwynn Houk Gallery has reception and book signing with the artist Elinor Carucci

National Theater, source of Broadway hits, gets its first female leader

Skull of ancient 'Sea Monster' With daggerlike teeth discovered in England

Self-taught artist Timothy Cummings's fantasy filled paintings to be exhibited at Nancy Hoffman Gallery

Mitchell-Innes & Nash opening inaugural show by artist Marcus Leslie Singleton

Marlborough Gallery Barcelona currently showing exhibition 'Close Encounters' by Martine Stig

World-famous Spanish artist Cristobal Gabarron opens solo show at Ora-Ora

'Shota Suzuki: Eternal Garden' highly anticipated second solo exhibition now opening at Ippodo Gallery

First retrospective of South African artist and activist Gavin Jantjes now on view

Koichiro Takagi 'Deliver to Your Soul' at MAKI Gallery

Societal constructs that confine and define feminine experience examined in 'Restraint'

Michael Bishop, genre-busting writer known for science fiction, dies at 78

Review: In 'Translations,' what's lost when language is looted

1855 $50 strikes gold at Heritage's FUN US Coins Auction Jan. 10-14

Hermès Himalayan Kelly brings $125,000, leads Heritage's Luxury Accessories Auction above $2.3 million

BAM announces a dance-heavy season

Andre Braugher, actor on 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and 'Homicide,' dies at 61

The year of the mega sleeve

Unlock the Excitement: Dive into the World of Free Spins

Fortnite Hacks: Unraveling the Game's Underbelly

From Noob to Ninja: A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to Fortnite

Do Cats Burp?

Digital Transformation Strategies with ATT Performance

What are the different types of ebike?

Can SoundOn upload my release to TikTok if I am using another distributor for other services?




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful