Synopses & Reviews
Drama. Translated from the German and French by Rob Melrose. This collection brings together new translations of three classic modernist plays: WOYZECK by Georg Büchner; PELLÉAS AND MÉLISANDE by Maurice Maeterlinck; and UBU ROI by Alfred Jarry; with a foreword by Oskar Eustis of the Public Theater, an introduction by Paul Walsh of the Yale School of Drama, and an afterword by translator Rob Melrose.
"To bring these three plays together into a single volume is to embrace a heritage of modernist experiment, left us by young men in their 20s living in the 19th century. It is a heritage that redefined risk as it redefined theater and the purposes it serves."—Paul Walsh
Synopsis
New translations of three classic modernist plays: "Woyzeck" by Georg B chner, "Pelleas and Melisande" by Maurice Maeterlinck, and "Ubu Roi" by Alfred Jarry; with a foreword by Oskar Eustis, an Introduction by Paul Walsh, and an Afterword by Rob Melrose "Rob Melrose is a kind of magician, and his theater, Cutting Ball, is one of the most exciting and integrity-filled enterprises going in the sometimes-shabby field of the American theater. These translations, lucid and sharp, are a beautiful testimony to the value of Rob's achievement." -- from the forward by Oskar Eustis artistic director of the Public Theatre New York City "To bring these three plays together into a single volume is to embrace a heritage of modernist experiment, left us by young men in their 20s living in the 19th century. It is a heritage that redefined risk as it redefined theater and the purposes it serves. And it is this that makes this volume so valuable. We are invited to see these plays that defined the theater of today afresh, in a language that is both immediate and theatrical, and embrace the risk they celebrate as our own. And isn't that what we should expect from a new translation? To experience again as new those very things that helped shape who we are?" -- from the introduction by Paul Walsh Associate Professor (adjunct) of Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Yale School of Drama
About the Author
Rob Melrose, the translator of WOYZECK, PELLEAS AND MELISANDE, UBU ROI, is the artistic director of The Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco. In addition to the translations in this book he has translated NO EXIT, THE BALD SOPRANO, and THE EMPEROR AND ARCHITECT OF ASSYRIA with Zanthe Taylor. He has directed at the Guthrie Theater, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and PlayMakers Rep and has taught at Stanford University, Marin Academy and the University of Rhode Island. He lives in San Rafael California with his wife and two children.