Printing stage : relationships between performance, print, and translation in early English editions of Molière.

The publication of dramatic texts designed initially to be performed on stage requires a form of translation from one medium to another. While a play in manuscript might be subject to modification in the rehearsal stage, a printed version is intended to preserve the text in a more fixed form. Molière became involved in the Paris printing world in order to maintain authorial and commercial control of his works. Yet the printing of his works allowed them to travel beyond the bounds of Paris and France. From the early 1660s onwards many of his plays were translated quickly in England, where there was high demand for dramatic material following the closure of the theatres during the interregnum. The translators of Molière took on the role of seeing new versions of his work put through the printing press and by the early eighteenth century collected works of Molière were published in translation. Far from the translators making themselves invisible, they used publication techniques to advertise their changes. In doing so they demonstrate engagement with the French sources and encourage readers to keep in mind the plays’ stage histories