Translation Festival
In partnership with Dramatic Art and The Mercurian, Adam Versényi, Curator
October 16-18 2025 at 7:30 pm
At The Black Box Theatre in Swain Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill
The Bacchae By Euripides
Thursday, Oct. 16 @ 7:30 p.m.
Translated from the Ancient Greek by Emma Pauly
Directed by Adam Versényi
This adaptation of The Bacchae is an exploration of what it means to exist in a queer body. What
does it mean to stand in front of one’s family, proclaim your identity, your self and remain
unseen?
Oh By Putu Wijaya
Friday, Oct. 17 @ 7:30 p.m.
Translated from the Indonesian by Cobina Gillitt
Oh takes place in the mind of a Senior Attorney, rendered speechless by a stroke and
yearning to reunite with his only son. When the Young Attorney finally visits his father, he
does so not as a son, but as a driven lawyer seeking his mentor’s advice on a case involving a
drug dealer facing the death penalty.
Ladies By Justīne Kļava
Saturday, October 18 @ 2:00 p.m.
Translated from the Latvian by Ieva Lākute
Directed by Kathy Williams
Filled with tragicomic moments, Ladies explores the affectionate and strained relationship
between three generations of women who try to assert their independence while sharing a
small flat in a decrepit district of Riga.
Flood Zone by Marta Barceló
Saturday, October 18 @ 7:30 p.m.
Translated from the Catalan by H.J. Gardner
Directed by Joseph Megel
Flood Zone takes place in a fictional small town, Saint Llis. Although based on the actual
2018 flash flood affecting Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, the play explores the two opposing
directions a tragedy can take us, either down into profound despair or uplifted in the solidarity
of shared experience.
The Bacchae
By Euripides
Translated from the Ancient Greek by Emma Pauly
Directed by Adam Versényi
Get to know more about the play
The Translator
Emma Pauly is a dramaturg, translator and performer with a focus in Greco-Roman text, particularly tragedy. They hold a B.A. from the University of Chicago in Theater and Performance Studies with a minor in Classics and an M.A. from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’s International Acting Programme. Their translations have been featured in productions at Chicago’s Prop Thtr and Pop Magic Productions.
Oh
By Putu Wijaya
Translated from the Indonesian by Cobina Gillitt
Get to know more about the play
The Playwright
Putu Wijaya, one of Indonesia’s most celebrated and prolific playwright-directors since the early 1970s, believes the objective of theatre is “mental terror.” For him, every performance is an opportunity to jostle spectators out of their comfort zones, shifting them from a feeling of stability to one of disequilibrium.
The Translator
Cobina Gillitt is a translator of Indonesian plays and a freelance new play and production dramaturg located in New York City. She has been a member of Putu Wijaya’s
theatre company, Teater Mandiri, since 1988 and has performed and toured with the group in Indonesia, the US, and Germany.
Ladies
By Justine Klav
Translated from the Latvian by Ieva Lākute
Directed by Kathy Williams
Get to know more about the play
The Playwright
Justīne Kļava (Ladies) is one of Latvia’s most celebrated contemporary playwrights and dramaturgs. Since 2014, she has been writing plays for Latvia’s leading state and experimental theatres, mostly focused on psychologically realistic representations of generational clashes and the impact of history on the everyday lives of eastern Europeans.
The Translators
Ieva Lākute has worked freelance as a writer and literary translator since graduating from Bath Spa University with an MA in Creative Writing. Her short stories and literary translations have received several awards, including the longlist of the 2020 John Dryden Translation Competition. Her love for theatre and cross-cultural collaboration led her to complete the 2020 Theatre Translators Mentorship with the London-based theatre company Foreign Affairs.
Flood Zone
By Marta Barceló
Translated from the Catalan by H.J. Gardner
Directed by Joseph Megel
Get to know more about the play
The Playwright
Marta Barceló is a playwright, artistic producer, and former trapeze artist from Mallorca. Her plays documenting issues in the lives of women have won numerous awards. Aging with Alzheimer’s is portrayed movingly in Abans que arribi l’alemany (Before the
German’s Here); social isolation and adoption in Tocar mare (Mom®); and living with breast cancer in Anar aSaturn i tornar (To Get to Saturn and Back).
The Translator
H.J. Gardner translates contemporary Catalan theatre for Sala Beckett/Obrador Internacional de Dramatúrgia in Barcelona. She previously collaborated with Marta Barceló on Abans que arribi l’alemany (Before the German’s Here), winner of the 2021 Plays in Translation contest of the American Literary Translators Association and Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre.