Translations
Kathleen has translated six plays from the French for Parisian playwright Bernard Da Costa. (Most of them have been performed throughout Europe.) Following is a short bio of M. Da Costa, and quick summaries of each play, two of which have received staged readings in New York City.
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BERNARD DA COSTA - BIOGRAPHY
Born in Biarritz, Bernard Da Costa began his career by creating the first café-theatre in Paris, and essentially inventing the café-theatre movement of the 1960s and 70s.
Playwright, journalist, novelist, he has written close to 100 plays, produced in France and throughout Europe, in large and small theatres, including the Theatre Royal in Copenhagen, National Theatre of Lisbon, Edinburgh Festival, Theatre National of Dresden, Eliseo Theatre of Rome, Theatre de Poche in Paris, the Comedie Francaise, and the Avignon Festival.
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See: Wikipedia, Amazon.com
THE BOOMERANG
(Two characters. Received a staged reading at the NYU Tisch School hotINK International Play Festival,
starring Kathleen Chalfant)
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An aging actress, who teaches to make ends meet, announces to one of her students that he lacks ability, charisma, and everything else he needs to “make it.” The tables turn when the student launches his own shocking and venomous attack.
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THE HAPPINESS OF THE TOMATO
(Two characters. Received a staged reading at Urban Stages in NYC, starring Tony Winner Trazana Beverley.)
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Clementine, a woman living in a dilapidated greenhouse, meets Karim, an angry, embittered teenage immigrant who is constantly escaping from the local reform school. Karim, called “Kim,” becomes intrigued by Clementine’s crop of tomatoes, which she is raising with a passionate devotion that bewilders him. Through humor, intimidation, and a relentless expectation of miracles, Clementine begins to nurture qualities of ambition, talent and honesty in her young “student,” who resists her every step of the way, while struggling (like Clementine’s tomatoes) toward fulfillment of his highest potential.
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THE CARNIVORE SHAKESPEARE CLASS
(8 characters.)
A young woman requests permission to conduct a writing workshop in a high-security prison. She wishes to concentrate on the Bard’s “criminals,” the characters she believes will hold the greatest interest for prisoners. Apparently a praiseworthy project, but a dangerous one. Ultimately, nothing unfolds as expected.)
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ADIEU, LENINGRAD, BONJOUR, PARIS!
(8 characters. No dancing required)
The young Rudolf Nureyev, eager to explore, arrives in Paris with the Kirov Ballet. He meets three people who open his mind and heart to new possibilities. He is shadowed by the KGB in the form of Lev, a young Soviet policeman who, in his turn, finds himself becoming seduced by the City of Light.
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EVE BRAUN’S WATCHMAKER
(3 Characters)
Hitler’s mistress, trapped in a bunker in 1945 with only a few days to live, continues to hope for the Third Reich’s triumph. She summons a watchmaker, a concentration camp prisoner, to repair and re-start her precious collection of watches, in anticipation of the final “victory.”
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CLEOPATRA MEETS THE QUEEN OF SHEBA
(Two characters)
Two actresses, old friends but now working in vastly different realms of theatre, spend an evening reminiscing about their careers and about the man for whose love they once competed. Each of them hopes to gain something from the other, and their goals may be far more dangerous than they appear.