I was fortunate to be a part of the Playwrights’ Workshop residency in Tadoussac, where I was able to work on a new version of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters for the Shaw Festival.

The work of translation is a bit like that of an art restorer: it requires a fine brush, and many hours of careful consideration to bring the piece into focus. In the world we city people live in, it is often hard to find this kind of uninterrupted time and space for reflection. This is what the residency gave me: time and space.

Time to study the text in depth, to daydream about my characters, to meditate on the work of the playwright.

And space to explore--both physically and imaginatively--the world of the play. Isolated from the normal interruptions of modern life, from ringing telephones and radios, I was closer to the experience of Chekhov’s characters. My long walks, thinking on my feet, talking out loud, were also an important part of the experience.

As a bonus, the evenings spent in conversation with other writers were a rare opportunity to find out what is going on in other parts of the country. I think that all of us from Toronto were agog at the amount of theatre activity in Quebec that we are unaware of on our side of the border.

Finally, I must commend the guidance provided by Linda Gaboriau. She is not only an experienced translator, but someone with a wide knowledge of world theatre and literature. Her comments were both insightful and thought-provoking. They greatly expanded my understanding of the work that I was doing.

By the end of my residency I had produced a first draft, which was read a week later by the actors at the Shaw Festival.

I thank the Playwrights’ Workshop for their generosity in inviting me to participate in this remarkable program.

Susan Coyne
Tadoussac Translation Colony