Tonight, I read the first act of Brian Friel's Translations. So did my fiance. We read it aloud by splitting up the roles, although at times we were talking to ourselves (like when Daniel was reading for Manus and Jimmy). It really made a difference in my understanding of the play. I had started reading it by myself but the scenes came to life when we were reading it out loud, putting in the inflections and stumbling over the Gaelic and Latin. Our translation was definitely an interesting one.
As the story progressed and Owen explained how the English would be renaming some areas and towns to make it "easier," I was reminded of a scene from P.S. I love you. Here's the clip- it's a terrible version of it, since someone was recording it in a movie theatre, but it's all I've got. About a minute and a half in, Holly (Hillary Swank) struggles with the name of an Irish town- a prime example of how things can get lost in translation!
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I think its really fun that you and your fiance read it together. I think reading plays with other people gives you a better opportunity to understand the play rather than just reading it yourself and not understanding all the different roles.
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