Katherine Ong
A Week of Work Experience at the Royal Shakespeare Company
Last month the Berliner Ensemble came to Stratford to perform Richard II at the
Courtyard Theatre. This was part of the RSC’s ambitious Complete Works festival,
which brings in theatre companies from across the world to stage their version of a
Shakespeare play. I had the opportunity to spend the week working backstage as an
interpreter, which basically meant aiding communication between the Berliner
Ensemble and the RSC.
My work to date has mainly involved written translation from German to
English, so simultaneous interpretation was always going to be something of a
challenge. A lack of technical vocabulary as well as knowledge of theatre jargon on
my part meant that it was difficult at times, but with a fair amount of patience and
gesturing there were no major issues. Most of the cast and crew could communicate
without too much difficulty, however I think the presence of the interpreters was
appreciated as a kind of safety net. My role basically involved following people
around in case translation was required. The work tended to be quite sporadic and
therefore required a fair amount of patience and many cups of tea, but it was never
boring. Every day was different – for example, over the course of the week I learnt
the German word for ‘scaffold clip’, explained what Marmite was, and helped to
clarify a money-related issue.
Shakespeare has quite a history of performance in Germany and the Berliner
Ensemble has been staging this version of Richard II since 2000, including a trip to
Japan. It was incredible to see just how much work goes on for so few performances.
Long hours were spent working on the set and lighting and I developed huge respect
for all the stage and technical crew. The German team seemed fairly used to working
away from home and generally maintained a confident, professional attitude. It must
be a challenge for the RSC staff to welcome so many people from across the world
as part of the festival, but they were impressively patient and accommodating.
There were inevitably some stressful moments, largely related to time
pressures and different ways of working. The arrival of the German director was an
experience as he certainly made his presence felt and a number of changes had to
be made. Despite some quite tense moments, I found it fascinating to see such
prestigious companies at work. Ultimately any cultural differences between the two
did not get in the way of getting the job done well.
I had never visited The Courtyard Theatre before but found it to be a fantastic
space, which is destined to temporarily become the RSC’s main theatre in Stratford.
A proscenium arch was constructed especially for Richard II, as the Courtyard
normally features a thrust stage. The set design was quite powerful, presenting a
very stark, monochrome landscape that as the play progressed became covered in
water and mud (which took an hour to clean up each night). In keeping with the
Berliner tradition, it reminded me of a Brecht or even a Beckett production.
It was fantastic to gain a completely different perspective on the play and
talking to people from both companies was hugely enlightening. I spent the first night
up in the gallery with the automation crew who were responsible for flying the
different parts of the set at the right time. It was very interesting to view the play from
up high – I had to wear black, not make too much noise and got to watch most of the
performance on an infrared screen. In the first half, a cue given too early resulted in a
scary incident involving part of the back wall getting stuck. After some whispered
swearing this was quickly sorted out, and I like to think my presence may have been
of some help.
As time went on and everyone got to know what they were doing, I was called
upon less and less. This meant I got the chance to see the play from the audience’s
perspective and I must say that I was impressed. Unfortunately I didn’t have any
involvement with the English surtitles, which ultimately I don’t think were very
successful. I believe there was some discussion about whether to keep the
Shakespearean text or to reflect the modernity of the German version. In the end it
seemed to be a strange mixture of styles. Thomas Brasch’s German text is really
remarkable and I hope to look at this further as part of my MA course in Translation,
Writing and Cultural Difference.
It was interesting to hear how there were different expectations of the
audience and I seem to recall a typical British audience being described as ‘on the
ball’. The actors were told not to worry if the applause wasn’t as loud and prolonged
as they were used to in Germany. On opening night the applause was rather milked
and it was a shame that the theatre wasn’t full, although perhaps not entirely
surprising. I found it relatively easy to spot the German-speakers in the audience as
they were able to pick up on a lot more and had a greater reaction to the comic
moments. The reviews that I have since come across have been generally positive, if
a little restrained. I think that perhaps this was a play for the brain rather than the
heart (which seems to fit with Brechtian ideas of epic theatre). The whole experience
is certainly something that will stay with me, and I would like to thank everyone at the
RSC and Berliner Ensemble for such a fantastic opportunity.