Theatrical Interpreting: An Explanation of the Process

The curtain is down; you can hear the rustling of the waiting audience in the darkness as the lights slowly dim. With the rise of the curtain, you step into the spotlight, inhale a nervous breath, and proceed to interpret the words expressed by the actors you accompany on stage. Honestly, this picture is something not all people in the field of interpreting have been able to experience, but it is something that the author of this paper has only recently learned to be a life changing experience. This paper will explain the process of theatrical interpreting and what it entails to complete an interpretation of a play. To do this, the author will provide a step-by-step process of interpretation that is required for interpreting play. In addition, the author will reflect on a personal experience of going through the theatrical interpreting process for this thesis. This reflection will include a transcript of the interpreted play with translation, an observation of a professional interpretation of the translated play, an interview with two of the interpreters, and a write up of the overall experience