Voices from the Margin: Tennessee Williams and Michel Tremblay
Michel Tremblay, one of Canada’s most renowned playwrights, has also translated numerous plays destined for Quebec stages, including seven works by the American playwright Tennessee Williams. The following study focuses on four short plays by Williams that appeared together under the title Au pays du dragon and were produced in 1972 and 1997. It examines how they distinguish themselves from previous French translations of his work, allowing Tremblay to proclaim an affiliation with a popular American repertoire rather than the French repertoire favoured by the elite. We can also observe how Tremblay’s own journey as a playwright, accompanied as it was by worldwide recognition, modifies his relationship to Williams, which in turn acts upon his “scriptural position” and affects the translation process he applies to his plays.