Saturday, November 04, 2006

Lost in translation

Tonight I went to see a Macbeth play in... Lithuanian, subtitled in Korean. Yes of course, you can laugh.

It was a hard night. Really. I met Hye Jeong and two of her friends for dinner - the best sushi rolls I've ever had (shrimp and avocado miam!)

Her friends are great, but it took me a lot of energy to speak slowly and repeat a hundred times every single word that came out of my mouth.

So when we got to the play, I was hoping for a little rest. Oh boy! I really got lost in translation.

Over FOUR hours of this Lithuanian/Korea play. I was wiped!

Objectively, the actors sure used all the space on stage and they gave a great performance. The director, Eimuntas Nekrosius, also did a great job! I especially liked the lighting and scenery.


But this adaptation of Macbeth wasn’t great.

Beside the fact that I did not understand a single word of it, they put a lot of emphasis on the three witches – which were young and quite stunning in this version of the play.

My mind wandered a couple of times.

I couldn’t help but wonder what Shakespeare would have said if, back in the 1600s, someone had told him that his tragedy would be performed by Lithuanian actors in a theatre in Seoul. Moreover, I doubt he would have appreciated this rendition.

One thing that struck me though is how much energy those people have on stage! They scream, they run, often dance, and their movements are so dramatic and… theatrical!!!

The last time I had been to a play was back in Paris last April. Patrick and I had seen “nevroses sexuelles de nos parents” and I must say it was a really special one. Plus, at least I could understand what the actors were saying.

I really love theatre. For so many reasons but let's not elaborate too much here. My brain is clustered with Korean characters and Lithuanian words and I need some rest!

As I was walking back home I stopped for a moment just to smell the air, look at the moon and feel the sweet autumn breeze. Felt nice. Really nice actually. Until I passed by a dark alley and… I saw four young guys loading guns!

I walked by very quickly and looked back to make sure this wasn’t a dream. It was real. They were staring at me.

At that very moment I tried really hard to realise that I could die any minute and you know what? I came to see that I wouldn’t trade life with anyone. It’s my life and I love it – with all the good, the wrong, the twisted, and the dark sides of it.


Travel Blogs - Blog Top Sites