Read on to learn more about OOTW, how we work, and how you can work with us

I have translated a play in to English from Portuguese, Spanish, or another language of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world. Can I send it to you?

Yes please! We meet once a month to read and explore a new translation and we actively seek new translations and translators to feature at these free monthly events. If you are not based in London, you are still welcome: we can connect with you online for the session.

We also put out an annual call to our mailing-list for submissions to our summer festival of plays in translation. To send us a translation, email us on info@outofthewings.org. To join our the mailing list, click here.The play can be from any period: we love meeting new writing, but are just as interested in newly-translated classics.

Our monthly sessions are always free to attend, in person or online.

How do your monthly sessions work?

Our model is very simple: we sit together, read a translation out loud, and then discuss it. It really is as simple as that. We invite the translator (and the writer, if they are present) to talk to us a little about the play and the translation if they so choose beforehand, and are open to suggestions about how the play should be read. After reading, we take a short break, and then have an informal discussion about the plays and the translation. We do this in a friendly, supportive atmosphere with a view to empowering the translator to continue their work with the benefit of constructive feedback.

I only have a first draft of my translation. Is it too soon to submit it for a monthly session?

No. You are welcome to submit a translation at any stage of its progress, and to use the session for whatever you need. You might have a translation that is nearly complete and that you want to ‘road-test’ out loud; you might have an early draft and a lot of questions or options to try out. On occasion, we even read out texts that are only partially translated and discuss how to approach the original source text. Our monthly meetings are a working laboratory that is there for the translator’s benefit.

I am interested in your work but I don’t speak Spanish or Portuguese. Can I still be involved?

Yes! Our monthly sessions are for everyone, whatever your language background. When we read a translation at our monthly session, everyone’s feedback is welcome. You do not need to have any connection to Spanish or Portuguese to attend our meetings.

I’m interested in what you do but I’m not a translator. Can I still come along?

Yes! Although translation is at the heart of what we do, we are a theatre collective. We want to meet all kinds of theatre-makers: actors, directors, designers, producers, stage managers, and everyone else. Our monthly meetings and annual activities are designed to share the wealth of the theatre of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds, and to do this it is vital that we connect with colleagues from all kinds of theatre backgrounds and disciplines.

You’re based at a university: is Out of the Wings very ‘academic’?

We are a broad community of practitioners, many of whom do not have an academic background and whose experience comes from elsewhere.

We are very proud to be part of the research and teaching world of academia, and having a base at King’s College London is vital to us for accessing some of the best expertise and talent in the world of theatre and translation research. Out of the Wings began as a research project and everything we do is part of building on that original idea. Many of the translations that we share at our monthly sessions or festival come out of the work of researchers or students.

Like all translators, our work is about building bridges and promoting exchange between worlds, and our eclectic membership is true to that. Our monthly sessions and festival really are for everyone, whether you are a researcher, educator, student, practitioner, theatre-maker, or just an interested guest. We work in an open environment and everyone’s contribution is welcome.

I am a playwright. Can you translate my play into English?

Out of the Wings is a collective of practitioners, including many translators. Although we do not offer a translation service as a group, we are very happy to share your play with our individual members. If you are interested in having your play translated, you are welcome to send it to info@outofthewings.org along with a synopsis and any other relevant information. We will then pass it to our members. Anyone who is interested in discussing a translation with you will then contact you directly.

I am a producer or publisher looking for a translator. Can you help?

Yes! We would be delighted to hear from you, and after an initial conversation about what you are looking for we will be pleased to help match you up with a translator or translators, or indeed to collaborate in another way.

I translate from a language other than Spanish or Portuguese that is a language of what is commonly known as the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world (for example, Basque, Mapudungun …). Does your work include these languages?

Yes.

I translate from a language not usually associated with the Hispanic or Lusophone world (French, Russian, Japanese…). Does your work include these languages?

We are currently focussed on the theatre of the Lusophone and Hispanic worlds and do not include plays from outside of this focus in our festival readings or monthly sessions. We do, however, run workshops on the theme of translation at our festival and occasionally throughout the year, which can cover a wider range of languages. Our annual conference or forum is also not restricted to any particular languages, and welcomes presentations from all language areas. We also welcome translators from any languages to attend our sessions and give feedback on the work presented.

How do I get my translation programmed at your festival?

Every year we put out a call for submissions to our festival. This takes place initially via our mailing list, which you can join by clicking here. Although we are open to meeting new colleagues for the first time through this submission window, we hope that anyone interested in submitting for the festival will take an active interest in our activities throughout the year, including our monthly reading sessions, to get a taste of how we work and to get to know us before suggesting plays to be included in the festival.

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