The aim of this research is to trace how the theatrical translation process, specifically within the genre of musical theatre, can be systematically approached by a director. Through practice-led research, this study documents the directorial process that was followed in order to translate the playtext of Bat Boy – the Musical from the American source context to the South African context. The intent of the process was to ensure that signifiers of the culture – as set out in the playtext – shifted to become indicative of the cultures of the performers who were cast in the production or target text. The first research phase addressed the theoretical framework of the study and the distinctions between theatrical translation, adaptation and variation were contemplated in order to substantiate the use of the term translation in the two-tiered translation approach suggested. In the second research phase, relevant dynamics in theatrical semiotic processes were used to analyse the playtext of Bat Boy – the Musical. In this, the first tier of translation, the dissertation surveyed the signs at work in the playtext taking cognisance of the ideological and aesthetic codes within the source text. Then, the corresponding social and textual codes within the socio-cultural domain to which the playtext was translated were investigated. The third research phase and second tier of translation occurred on the level of the mise-en-scène. Here, the directorial strategy was to engage the performers actively in the translation process, by including their respective artistic and cultural paradigms in the translation of the playtext and the characters contained therein. The translation of the playtext was explored within the cross cultural – and more specifically the intercultural – theatrical framework by allowing the multicultural and multilingual cast to source their diverse, cultural backgrounds and unique social codes as well as South African theatrical codes in order to place the musical in the South African context. The fourth and final research phase reflects upon the intercultural translation of Bat Boy – the Musical and considers, not only the efficacy of the directorial process for the translation of a musical theatre playtext from one cultural context to another, but also how this particular form of American musical theatre resonates within the multicultural and multilingual South African society. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria 2015. / Drama / Unrestricted

O projeto propõe-se a analisar o modo como os signos teatrais se organizam e se estruturam no processo de constituição de sentido do espetáculo de teatro de rua O vendedor de palavras, encenado pelo Grupo Mototóti no Parque da Redenção em Porto Alegre. O seu objetivo é observar o funcionamento do código teatral como conceito catalisador dos diversos elementos que constroem material e concretamente a obra cênica, refletindo a partir de estudos realizados por Anne Übersfeld, Patrice Pavis e Erika Fischer-Lichte, além de outros autores do campo da semiótica teatral. O debate acerca da teatralidade acontece no registro da presente pesquisa como parte de uma metodologia que inclui a análise dos diversos signos, a reflexão proveniente do modelo actancial greimasiano e o estudo do personagem. / This project aims at analysing how the theatrical signs are organized and structured in the process which leads to the creation of meaning in the outdoors presentation of the play O vendedor de palavras (The Seller of Words) by the Mototóti Group at Redenção Park in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is also its aim to observe the function of the theatrical code as a catalyst concept of the several elements that materially and concretely create a scenic work, theoretically based on studies by Anne Übersfeld, Patrice Pavis, and Erika Fischer-Lichte, as well as other authors who work in the field of the theatrical semiotics. The methodology used in the present research for the debate about the theatricality includes the analysis of the diverse signs, reflections from A. J. Greimas's actancial model and the study of character.

O projeto propõe-se a analisar o modo como os signos teatrais se organizam e se estruturam no processo de constituição de sentido do espetáculo de teatro de rua O vendedor de palavras, encenado pelo Grupo Mototóti no Parque da Redenção em Porto Alegre. O seu objetivo é observar o funcionamento do código teatral como conceito catalisador dos diversos elementos que constroem material e concretamente a obra cênica, refletindo a partir de estudos realizados por Anne Übersfeld, Patrice Pavis e Erika Fischer-Lichte, além de outros autores do campo da semiótica teatral. O debate acerca da teatralidade acontece no registro da presente pesquisa como parte de uma metodologia que inclui a análise dos diversos signos, a reflexão proveniente do modelo actancial greimasiano e o estudo do personagem. / This project aims at analysing how the theatrical signs are organized and structured in the process which leads to the creation of meaning in the outdoors presentation of the play O vendedor de palavras (The Seller of Words) by the Mototóti Group at Redenção Park in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is also its aim to observe the function of the theatrical code as a catalyst concept of the several elements that materially and concretely create a scenic work, theoretically based on studies by Anne Übersfeld, Patrice Pavis, and Erika Fischer-Lichte, as well as other authors who work in the field of the theatrical semiotics. The methodology used in the present research for the debate about the theatricality includes the analysis of the diverse signs, reflections from A. J. Greimas's actancial model and the study of character.

O projeto propõe-se a analisar o modo como os signos teatrais se organizam e se estruturam no processo de constituição de sentido do espetáculo de teatro de rua O vendedor de palavras, encenado pelo Grupo Mototóti no Parque da Redenção em Porto Alegre. O seu objetivo é observar o funcionamento do código teatral como conceito catalisador dos diversos elementos que constroem material e concretamente a obra cênica, refletindo a partir de estudos realizados por Anne Übersfeld, Patrice Pavis e Erika Fischer-Lichte, além de outros autores do campo da semiótica teatral. O debate acerca da teatralidade acontece no registro da presente pesquisa como parte de uma metodologia que inclui a análise dos diversos signos, a reflexão proveniente do modelo actancial greimasiano e o estudo do personagem. / This project aims at analysing how the theatrical signs are organized and structured in the process which leads to the creation of meaning in the outdoors presentation of the play O vendedor de palavras (The Seller of Words) by the Mototóti Group at Redenção Park in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is also its aim to observe the function of the theatrical code as a catalyst concept of the several elements that materially and concretely create a scenic work, theoretically based on studies by Anne Übersfeld, Patrice Pavis, and Erika Fischer-Lichte, as well as other authors who work in the field of the theatrical semiotics. The methodology used in the present research for the debate about the theatricality includes the analysis of the diverse signs, reflections from A. J. Greimas's actancial model and the study of character.