A few seasons ago a group of seasoned actors founded Soulpepper Theatre as a repertory company dedicated to the classics. Theyve been garnering praise on all sides for their work. Often the plays are presented as period pieces, with full historical costume. But sometimes that approach just doesnt work.
Take Arthur Schnitzlers La Ronde. Its a clever play, originally written in German under the title Reigen. It follows 10 interlocking couples: the wife with the husband, the husband with another woman, that woman with a writer, the writer with an actress, and so on, all the way around a circle that opens and closes with the same prostitute. In its day (1897), the show was considered so shocking that its own author finally forbade anyone to produce it during his lifetime, to save himself further persecution on its behalf.
But what was risqué for the late 19th century wont play the same way in the beginning of the 21st. So Soulpepper has recruited Governor Generals Award-winning playwright Jason Sherman to adapt the script to a contemporary setting.
"Ive been saying for years that when Shaw and Stratford do translations of classic plays they should get Canadian playwrights to do them," says Sherman. He was originally slated to adapt Soulpeppers highly successful Platonov, but "much to my despair and everlasting regret") a U.S. television job got in the way. "Its usually actors who back out to go and do movies and TV," he quips.
Although Sherman usually constructs completely original plays, "Ive also taken a run at Life of Galileo by Bertholt Brecht," he says. When he confronted the script of La Ronde, he found that the language ("Austrian German is a whole other subspecies") and the situations needed considerable alteration. "Unlike the Galileo, where I was on bended knee; I was a little looser with it."
Overall, Sherman says, "My goal is to make it sing, baby, so that those words come trippingly off the tongue, as they say." In practical terms, though, not only the words but the characters themselves needed to be translated. "Its set here and now, so there are some Toronto locations," he explains. "The very first scene is a hooker and a soldier& and, well, you just dont see a lot of soldiers lounging around clubs these days, so hes now an athlete." (Although its not made specific, "In my mind hes a hockey player," Sherman confides.)
"The other one was a count. Dean Gilmour is playing him. So we thought: we need a functionary, but quite useless. So we settled on a senator." Because Sherman is writing for a particular company of actors, he encountered certain limitations. For example, "The maid was an interesting challenge, because you dont see a lot of Canadian white maids. But you see a lot of au pairs, so we made her German."
With all the constraints, is translation easier or more difficult than writing an original play? "Its about 80 percent easier," replies Sherman, with no hesitation. "The story is the hard part."

La Ronde runs from July 27 to August 25 at the Premiere Dance Theatre in repertory with Uncle Vanya and MacHomer at Harbourfront Centre. For tickets, call 416-973-4000.