January 02, 2012 By Kyle Wright

Is it harder to write an original script or to translate an existing one?

They’re incredibly different processes. I think it’s probably easier to translate, but really that’s dependent on who you’re working with.

Why are you drawn to Reza’s works?

I respond very well emotionally, and that’s key. There’s a lot more that goes into translating a play than just adjusting the words. You need to translate the emotions associated with them, and that varies from culture to culture.

Do you worry that you’ll lose the heart of a play when you change the language?

We try to change as little as possible. When Yasmina and I were working on Art years ago, nothing really changed because the play worked no matter where you took it. For God of Carnage, there were some adjustments needed.

Like changing the setting?

Yes. When we came to New York, we began translating it into American English, which is very different from English in the United Kingdom. We had cast James Gandolfini to star, and he was very worried that audiences wouldn’t be able to accept him as anything but a New Yorker.

Have you seen Roman Polanski’s film?

I have. Yasmina and Polanski had a very specific vision of what they wanted to do for the film, so they did their own adaptation, and I wasn’t involved. To me, it’s completely different. It’s not what I would call witty.

What are you working on now?

I’ve been translating the musical version of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, which will be opening on Broadway in April. I've always loved the novel, and the show was quite a big hit in Europe. It's needed some very large revisions to play in America, but it's been a very enjoyable process.

Do audiences react differently to a show depending on where it’s performed?

Yes and no. Sometimes it’s surprising to see what gets the big laughs. I think English are more different from, say, French audiences than Americans are. With Yasmina, she always prefers the American translations of her works because they’re more precise.