Article: Translating Theatre from the Periphery to be published in the Canadian Theatre Review vol. 170 emPowering Theatre issue, edited by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard and J. Paul Halferty
Santiago Farias Calderon
From Santiago:
The article will take the readers through my personal experience of drug-cartel violence in Mexico, while relating it with its effects on the cultural life of my hometown, Monterrey. By offering this story, I aim to create awareness of the need for theatre translation as an activity that gives voice to people in vulnerable positions, not only in Mexico, but all over the world.
Particularly, and given that translations from Mexican theatre into other languages are so scarce, I give an insight into the country’s rich theatrical history, so that English-speakers can start to understand that there are so many things worth researching in Mexican drama that will remain unknown until someone translates them. Translations are a way to connect cultures, to bring attention to issues that are disregarded when people lack power, and this is something that moves my research at UBC.
Where to read it?
http://www.utpjournals.press/loi/ctr Vol. 170 emPowering Theatre
Issue to be launched at Postmarginal symposium: Beyond Representation: Cultural Diversity as Theatrical Practice, keynote speaker Donna-Michelle St. Bernard in the Ada Slaight Hall, Daniels Spectrum @ Toronto, ON on Sunday April 9th. Symposium co-chairs include Natalie Alvarez and Ric Knowles.
Bio:
Santiago Farias Calderon is a second-year PhD in Theatre student at the University of British Columbia, where he was awarded the Errol Durbach Graduate Scholarship in Theatre in 2016, and the Faculty of Arts Graduate Research Award in 2017. He received his MA in Performance Practices and Research from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, UK.
Santiago has worked as the National Coordinator for Performance Grants at the National Council for the Culture and the Arts in Mexico City; and for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London.
Santiago has participated as speaker in international conferences, such as: the XVI Congress of Mexican Contemporary Literature at the University of Texas at El Paso, 2011; the Congress of the Society for Theatre Studies at the University of Bayreuth, 2012; and Regional Identities on a Global Scale: Translation, Audience, Reception at UBC, 2016.
His poetry has been published in Mexican, Spanish and Argentinian anthologies.
His research focuses on translating for the stage, particularly between Mexican contemporary plays and English, and vice versa.
