Radical Revival as Adaptation: Theatre, Politics, Society

by Jozefina Komporaly

This book examines the radical reinterpretation of precursor texts and prompts as an innovative form of adaptation for the stage. In this context, stage adaptations are defined as active and risk-taking interventions on pre-existing sources, dramatic and otherwise, that can range from single-authored plays to collaborative creations and devising projects. Radical adaptations have the potential to constitute a cutting edge pathway of exploration in performance, by virtue of operating at the intersection between experimental practice and multiple creative transpositions and crossovers among genres and media. They offer a viable platform for the negotiation of topical concerns embedded into global cultural, socio-political and historical shifts, thus cultivating a genuine bond between theatre and society. This volume considers a range of case studies, from the work of Alexandru Tocilescu to Rimini Protokoll, and is vital reading for those interested in adaptation studies and forms of contemporary theatre practice.

403 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 5, 2017

About the author

Jozefina Komporaly is a London-based theatre scholar, academic and translator from Romanian and Hungarian into English, specializing in drama and contemporary literature. Her translations, showcasing the work of authors including Agnes Heller, Andrea Tompa, András Visky, Árpád Kun, Béla Markó, Cristian Fulaş, Matéi Visniec, Mihaela Miroiu, Tatiana Ţîbuleac, appeared in Asymptote, Baffler, Columbia Journal, Hungarian Literature Online, Los Angeles Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, Poet Lore, The Continental, Words Without Borders, World Literature Today. She is editor and co-translator of the collections How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients and Other Plays (Seagull, 2015), András Visky's Barrack Dramaturgy (Intellect, 2017) and Plays from Romania: Dramaturgies of Subversion (Bloomsbury, 2021), and author of numerous publications on translation, adaptation and theatre including Radical Revival as Adaptation (Palgrave, 2017). Her translations were produced by Foreign Affairs, Trap Door, Theatre Y, Trafika Europe, and recently published volumes include Mr K Released by Matéi Visniec (finalist for the 2021 EBRD Literature Prize) and Story of a Stammer by Gábor Vida (Seagull Books, 2022). Her forthcoming translation Home by Andrea Tompa (Istros Books, 2024) was the recipient of a PEN Translates Grant. She is a member of the UK Translators Association. Her website is available at: https://jozefinakomporaly.com/