Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Obituaries
- Introduction by Yvette Hutchison
- Looking for ‘Eritrea's Past Property’ (1947)
- Seeking the Founding Father
- Medieval Morality & Liturgical Drama in Colonial Rhodesia
- Contesting Constructions of Cultural Production in & through Urban Theatre in Rhodesia, c. 1890–1950
- ‘Don't Talk into my Talk’
- The Leaf & the Soap (‘Bí ewé bá pẹ́. l'ara ọṣẹ, á di ọṣẹ ’)
- The Representation of Khoisan Characters in Early
- Images of Africa in Early Twentieth-Century British Theatre
- The First African Play: Fabula Yawreoch Commedia & its influence on the development of Ethiopian Theatre
- Translator's Note
- Playscript
- Book Reviews
- Index
Translator's Note
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Obituaries
- Introduction by Yvette Hutchison
- Looking for ‘Eritrea's Past Property’ (1947)
- Seeking the Founding Father
- Medieval Morality & Liturgical Drama in Colonial Rhodesia
- Contesting Constructions of Cultural Production in & through Urban Theatre in Rhodesia, c. 1890–1950
- ‘Don't Talk into my Talk’
- The Leaf & the Soap (‘Bí ewé bá pẹ́. l'ara ọṣẹ, á di ọṣẹ ’)
- The Representation of Khoisan Characters in Early
- Images of Africa in Early Twentieth-Century British Theatre
- The First African Play: Fabula Yawreoch Commedia & its influence on the development of Ethiopian Theatre
- Translator's Note
- Playscript
- Book Reviews
- Index
Summary
Back in 1986, when Professor Jane Plastow was teaching in the Theatre Arts Department of Addis Ababa University, we were colleagues and as such enjoyed many discussions. One of our conversations concerned the translation of Ethiopian plays from Amharic to English. Although there have been a number of plays written and staged in the public theatres every year, only about five plays have been in English. Three were written originally in English, namely Oda Oak Oracle and Tewodros (the latter also written in Amharic) by Tsegaye Gebre Medhin, and a play by Abe Gubegna entitled The Savage Girl. The other two plays were in Amharic and later translated by Mengistu Lemma, the writer himself. These were Marriage by Abduction and The Marriage of Unequals.
Even the plays mentioned above are little known to the outside world. This fact disturbed Jane in those days and she kept nagging me and Manyazewal Endeshaw (another colleague of ours) to attempt to translate plays, especially the comedies of Fissha, a teacher in the department and a gifted writer who really knows how to make his plays rich with traditional wisdom and folklores. One of his plays which Jane had seen and which was very popular at the time was Simegn Sintayehu, named after the female central character. Jane told Manyazewal and me that if we got the play translated she would contact the publishers and have it published. We took this opportunity and set a schedule to translate the play.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Histories 1850–1950 , pp. 151 - 152Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2010