Anastasia Podlesnaia
My work experience at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Royal Shakespeare Company is currently involved in an enormously ambitious and valuable project, the Complete Works Festival. The main idea is to invite theatre troops from all over the world, who then have the opportunity to present their interpretation of Shakespearian plays.
The Chekhov International Theatre Festival and Cheek By Jowl production of the Twelfth Night ran from 28th February to 3rd March 2007. The play was staged by an all-male cast of Russian actors, celebrated as film, television and stage stars in their home country. Interestingly, despite the fact that the show was performed in Russian with English subtitles, many viewers have reported that the play, directed by Declan Donnellan, was so captivating and entertaining it surpassed the language barrier. Altogether the performance received overwhelmingly good reviews, highlighting the fine interpretations of women characters by the male actors; and the remarkable feature of the blank square stage, lighting and music compositions in defining the mood and delivering messages.
My contribution to this outstanding performance involved translation and facilitation of communication between the Russian theatre company and the RSC. Most of the time I worked with the RSC´s wardrobe department and the wardrobe mistress of the Russian ensemble. All my initial concerns about the lack of experience in simultaneous interpreting and the absence of theatre jargon knowledge vanished immediately as soon as I was introduced to the people who I worked with for the duration of the production. Actually “work” did not seem appropriate in this context, based on this my experience was rather like a discovery excursion, where every moment I experienced something new and phenomenal. As this was my first time backstage, even the ordinary day routine at the theatre appeared to me as a very fascinating experience. I saw for the first time how hard and often the actors had to rehearse the play, even though the production has been performed for years; I saw how the different theatre departments work together towards the common goal and how exceptionally valuable the attention to detail in the entire running of a theatre production is. Most of all I was fascinated by the command of interpersonal skills and the high level of professionalism of both the RSC team and the troop of the Russian visiting company. It was very noticeable that both teams are accustomed to their own working styles and this fact led to some minor complications in the daily proceedings. However, on no instances has that developed into significant obstacles, since everyone was valued highly and had a huge amount of respect for the distinctive approaches of the other team when contributing their part to the accomplishment of a task.
With regard to the actual job, that I was to fulfil, it can be said that most of the actors and crew members demonstrated a fair amount of knowledge of the English language. As I was told by the permanent translator of the ensemble, who accompanies the performers on most tours all over the world, the crew and the actors were picking up quite quickly new English words and phrases when touring the country. He confirmed smilingly that an apparent progress in linguistic proficiency is observable. That meant that my translation assistance was not required constantly all the time. Again as I learned from the conversation with the professional translator the alternation between times of enforced idleness and sudden workload constitutes one of the main features of this profession. However the time of waiting for some concrete tasks to come up was one of my favourite. As this gave me the chance to have all these informative and enjoyable talks with the actors and the rest of the crew and the members of the RSC.
I believe to be immensely lucky that the performance time of Twelfth Night coincided with the staging of Coriolanus. The two productions were sharing the offstage space in the Swan theatre, allowing me to observe both companies while I was working backstage on standby for any event where a translator would be needed.
Altogether I can say it was an unforgettable week and the only wish I have is that the event could have lasted longer. All the valuable insights into the theatre life and the running of productions will sink deep into my memory.
But there is even a greater lesson I will take away with me from this work experience, namely the ability to communicate and socialise more effectively and confidently. I must admit I have never met so many new people in such a short period of time. But the comforting atmosphere of the theatre and the fact that I was also working towards a common ambitious goal quietened the initial unease and granted me with the confidence, which is so necessary in interpersonal relations. At this instant warm thanks to the staff of both companies who were great in setting me at ease and guiding me through my tasks in every way they could; they set a great example for me with in terms of professionalism and cheerfulness.
During the entire time at the theatre I was not left by the feeling of excitement and fascination. I have not even dreamt of ever receiving the opportunity to experience the theatre from any other perspective other than the one of the spectator.
I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who made that fantastic opportunity possible.