Retranslate or adapt, the English example of “Partage de Midi” / “Break of Noon”

David Furlong and John Naughton discuss their experience of retranslating and adapting Break of Noon. David Furlong describes the genesis of his work on the play and his choices for the representations. John Naughton’s contribution emphasizes the eventful history of the text and the principles of his translation, which takes into account several versions of the text. The staging aims to highlight the oscillation between a colonial setting and the deeper drama of a soul in the grip of an almost ecstatic revelation. This collaboration of a translator and a director would like to change Claudel’s reception, therefore to attract a new audience in England.