Plays in Translation Production History

  • 1789, Théâtre du Soleil (Sibikwa Arts Centre, 2023)
  • 1793, Théâtre du Soleil
  • Autophagies (Self-Eaters), Eva Doumbia & Armand Gauz (The Invisible Dog Art Center + Ashé Cultural Arts Center, 2023)
    • Autophagies (Self-Eaters), Eva Doumbia & Armand Gauz (staged reading) (Alliance Française of New Orleans, 2022)
  • I wouldn't have made it here if..., multiple authors (supertitles) (Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz, 2022)
  • e-smuggler.com, Sedef Ecer (staged reading) (Voyage Theater Company, New York Public Library, 2018)
  • First Lady, Sedef Ecer
  • The Heart, Maylis de Kerangal (supertitles) (FIAF, 2019)
  • Louise, she's crazy, Leslie Kaplan (The Melancholy Players, Sarah Lawrence College, 2013)
  • Porcelain Ballet, Anne-Claude de Caylus
  • Portrait of Ludmilla as Nina Simone, David Lescot (supertitles) (Seuls en Scène Festival, 2018)
  • The Day My Father Killed Me, Charlotte Boimare & Magali Solignat (Zoom reading) (Voyage Theater Company, 2020)
    • The Day My Father Killed Me, Charlotte Boimare & Magali Solignat (staged reading) (CUNY Segal Center, 2019)
  • The Inherent Burden of Me, Guy Régis, Jr. (supertitles) (Seuls en Scène Festival, 2022)
  • The Last Scene, Alain Foix (staged reading) (Voyage Theater Company, New York Public Library, 2017)
  • The Possessed of Illfurth, Yann Verburgh with Lionel Lingelser (supertitles) (Seuls en Scène Festival, 2023)
  • Tracks, Trails, and Traces..., Penda Diouf (Seuls en Scène Festival, 2020)


Contemporary Francophone African Plays book cover

Contemporary Francophone African Plays

Bringing together in English translation eleven Francophone African plays dating from 1970 to 2021, this essential collection includes satirical portraits of colonizers and their collaborators (Bernard Dadié’s Béatrice du Congo; Sony Labou Tansi’s I, Undersigned, Cardiac Case; Sénouvo Agbota Zinsou’s We’re Just Playing) alongside contemporary works questioning diasporic identity and cultural connections (Koffi Kwahulé’s SAMO: A Tribute to Basquiat and Penda Diouf’s Tracks, Trails, and Traces…).
South African woman on stage in petticoats

1789 at Sibikwa

VERY OCCASIONALLY, YOU feel that sense of privilege in the presence of an artwork that brings tears and goosebumps. From the very first roll of the snare drum with the thunder of a jembe and a dun-dun behind it, Sibikwa’s 1789 will have you transfixed. It’s immersion theatre like nothing you may have experienced before, and it will take your heart and spirit and shift it all seismically for an unspeakably fine 90 minutes.

Successful Women, Inspiring Stories

Adapted from a series of revelatory interviews by Annick Cojean, a special correspondent for Le Monde and one of France’s most widely admired journalists, we delve into the intimate lives of trailblazing women who have shaped French culture, like Christiane Taubira (politician and 2022 French presidential candidate), Gisèle Halimi (lawyer and essayist), Virginie Despentes (writer, novelist, and filmmaker), Françoise Héritier (anthropologist and ethnologist), Nina Bouraoui (novelist and songwriter), and Amélie Nothomb (novelist).
Load More Articles

Talking About Theater in Translation

Smiling woman on stage holding a microphone gestures with her hand

On Translating, Adapting and Producing International Theater on the US Stage

Part of In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY 2024 A panel following the experience of the Mentorship Hystrio Scrittura di Scena at In Scena! on Translating and Adapting. Featuring: Giulia Cowie, actor, translator Rossella Fava, Mentee, Hystrio Scritture di Scena at In Scena! Amelia Parenteau, writer, translator Frank J. Avella, Mentor – In Scena! 2023 Moderated by Laura Caparrotti, Artistic Director, In Scena!

On Translating Nobel Laureate Jon Fosse’s Works for American Audiences

Sarah Cameron Sunde is an interdisciplinary artist and director working at the intersection of performance, video, and public art. Her current practice, rooted in the visual arts, explores deep time, embodiment, and ecological crisis, and it is informed by her decades of experience as a theatremaker, director, and translator. Amelia Parenteau is a writer, translator, and theatremaker who has translated fifteen plays from French into English.

Why the American Theatre Needs Nobel Laureate Jon Fosse

Jon Fosse is one of only a handful of playwrights to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature out of 120 people in the last twelve decades. With this rarity, it is important to acknowledge the lack of access we have in the U.S. to experience masterful international plays. Why is it important for the American theatre to experience plays from abroad? And how can we move the needle to encourage more production of plays in translation into American-English?

Subscribe to get sent a digest of new articles by Amelia Parenteau

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.