At Theatre503 we are committed to international collaboration and to increasing the range of voices that reach our stages, whatever their language of origin. We also believe that when a director or a translator loves a play, their passion and commitment can be key to driving the writer’s work through to finding a production, whether at our theatre or elsewhere.
In this spirit, in April 2019, and again in 2021, we invited a group of directors in search of new plays to meet a group of translators with translated plays looking for a stage. In short, informal meetings, each was be able to talk about their work, share texts, and pitch ideas for new collaborations.
On 15th June, 7:45pm-10pm, we will hold this event for a third time. The ‘speed-dates’ will take place on Zoom, hosted by Steve Harper, Theatre503 Literary Manager, and translator William Gregory (Cuzco, Theatre503 2019; A Fight Against…, Royal Court 2021/22).
The application deadline is Monday 6th June at 12pm and the successful applicants will be informed by Friday 10th June. The event is open to all theatre translators who translate into English, and all theatre directors who work in English.
In order to give as many people as possible the opportunity to take part, this event will not be open to those directors and translators who attended the speed-dating events in 2019 and 2021.
To apply, please fill out this google form.
“Not only was this an inspiring evening chatting to a variety of passionate and curious people, I owe some of the most creatively stimulating projects I’ve worked on to the 503 speed-dating event, including a rehearsed reading of a new Spanish play and my current project – a strange, lyrical French play that is about to debut at a fringe theatre.” Sybilla Archdale-Kalid, director and participant in 2021.
“The T503 director-translator speed-dating event is a great way to kickstart a theatre project. I really enjoyed the evening, and had follow-up discussions with several directors afterwards. A year later, a play I pitched has been programmed and we open in May (follow us on Twitter @This_Piece to hear the rest of the story!). This wouldn’t be happening without Theatre503.” Charis Ainslie, translator and participant in 2021.