Spanish Wings for Kiwi Theatre: Cross-cultural challenges in the theatrical translation of Dave Armstrong’s and Oscar Kightley’s play Niu Sila

Abstract

This thesis explores the translation of the New Zealand play Niu Sila into Spanish for Latin American audiences. The thesis comprises four sections: the introduction offers a description and general context of the source play, considers a number of theoretical issues in theatre translation and performance, and establishes the questions the translator must confront; the second part explores some of the general and specific issues and challenges encountered when carrying out a faithful or a foreignised translation of Niu Sila; the third part is an exploration of the feasibility and appropriateness of a possible transplantation or domesticated translation of the play into another cultural and geographical context, specifically Venezuela; and the fourth part is the faithful translation itself.