Trilogy of Medieval Women

As the crowd grew outside of Ida Green Theatre, I began to wonder what to expect from the Trilogy of Medieval Women. A few days prior to the March 30th 7:00pm performance, I had learned that the play would be performed entirely in Spanish. My comprehension of the Spanish language is extremely limited, and I wondered if I would be able to understand the play at all. After a short wait outside the theatre, the crowd entered, and I was instructed to sit in the “Reserved” seating section because I wanted to watch the play with a simultaneous English translation. Headphones were available for theatergoers in the “Reserved” section, and student translators voiced the English translation through the headphones. However, even with the translation, I had tremendous difficulty understanding what was going on. In fact, the translation I heard through my headphones contrasted so greatly with the performance that I had difficultly relating the two. For example, the translations were done by males in two sections of the performance, but there were no male actors in the play. Thus, it was hard to relate the almost whispered voice of a man with the passion-filled female actors onstage. Even when a female translator was utilized, she whispered and added no influx of emotion to her language, contributing to the disconnected atmosphere. Also, it was quite unprofessional when I heard the translators congratulating each other on a ‘job well done’ throughout the production. The most useful piece of information I received was the program I was handed upon entering the theatre. Providing detailed information about each of the three dramatic pieces, the program was a nice outline that was occasionally built upon by details in the production. Even though I often did not understand what was happening in the production, I noticed that the actors in the performance seemed full of passion; it was interesting to see the actors blocking and facial expressions convey their emotions and pain without having a full understanding of the play’s content.