Mélange Accessibility for All Magazine April 2022 | Page 13

Realwheels Theatre hopes to tackle all these issues and more in its reimagining of Sartre ’ s masterpiece . Now titled In Camera ( the direct translation of Sartre ’ s own original title for the French play – Huis Clos ), conceptualized by Realwheels ’ new Artistic Director , Tomas Mureika , and sporting a brand new translation by French- Canadian actor and playwright , Cory Haas , it will be set in the midst of the onset of the global pandemic in 2020 . The idea came to Mureika one day when he wondered what it would be like if Hell were a never-ending online meeting . What if you pressed on the leave meeting and absolutely nothing happened ? “ It ’ s the ultimate symbol of the global lockdown , the ideal metaphor to look at human relations , connections , and isolation during the pandemic ,” he says . “ What if the platform itself is one of the instruments of torture the characters are looking for ?”
Sartre ’ s classic is still oddly relevant , especially in this day and age , but it needed to be refreshed while perfectly capturing the playwright ’ s original plot , characters , dialogue and philosophy . It was imperative to return to the original French ( as opposed to the stale WWII-era standard version ) to ensure the subtle — and not so subtle — were kept in balance and made Sartre ’ s masterpiece more accessible to a new audience .
Haas was excited to work within the context of Hell being an online meeting , but stressed it was important to maintain the type of language the original play uses because it ’ s vital to knowing where the characters are coming from . “ I think the most important job of the translator is to not so much translate literally , but maintain the meaning of the play in the translation ,” Haas says . He also acknowledges the parallels between Sartre ’ s work and what ’ s happening in the world today . “ We ' re now two years into the pandemic . A lot of people have gotten the digital route --which is great , but I think we ' re still pushing that boundary of what it can be .”
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