It felt miraculous to witness the culminating staged reading of an excerpt from the English script at the Alliance Française in New Orleans, with Eva serving mafé herself to the delighted audience in attendance. Wheels were in motion for a 2023 premiere. Eva visited New York in July 2022 to meet with partners. The American actress and I spent ten days in Lyon and Elbeuf in France in October 2022 to observe the French version and rehearse the English one.
In February 2023, the English-language version of Autophagies (Self-Eaters) premiered at The Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn, New York. It ran for six performances over four nights and then traveled to Ashé Cultural Arts Center in New Orleans, where it performed four times (one of which was a special bilingual matinee for francophone students) in March 2023. A ten-show run after four years of conversation and collaboration.
Why am I telling you all this? Not only because it’s an underdog theatre story for the ages, but also to pull back the curtain on one version of independently producing an international tour of a play in translation. Although I had prior experience self-producing my own plays and producing international work for theatres in the United States, as I set out on this journey, it was difficult to find specific guidance for independently producing an international tour. I hope this chronicling can be of service to those contemplating a similar venture.
Part of this production job was like any other venture. I sent so many emails, made so many phone calls.
If it’s difficult to get a production of a new play by a playwright based in the United States, it is nigh impossible to score one for a play in translation. Although a formal study of the number of plays in translation produced in the United States annually doesn’t exist (to my knowledge), the Theatre in Translation Network (TinT) has put together a representative repository dating back to 2003, which lists approximately two to five productions of plays in translation in the United States per year. Theatre in translation is the nichest of the niches in the United States. As a theatrical translator, if you want to see your translation produced, it’s all about creating opportunities.
Part of this production job was like any other venture. I sent so many emails, made so many phone calls. I set up the auditions for the New Orleans-based actress to replace Eva on stage. I wrote a press release to publicize the show in New Orleans and sent press materials to the New York press rep. I negotiated housing arrangements. I called upon the generosity of my network to source hard-to-find props, set pieces, and industrial-scale cooking equipment in New York and New Orleans. I scoured the internet and then Brooklyn for a plastic tub that was large enough to hold an adult human and sturdy enough to support his weight when standing on the (slightly pliable) edges. With the French company administrator, I bought ingredients in bulk for the chef, hauling a shopping trolley so loaded down I thought the wheels would pop off on my way back to the venue. My partner drove me all over the New Orleans metro area to source large quantities of palm oil. I sent everyone the next day’s schedule every night.
