Translation of Georg Büchner's Woyzeck for the Nottingham Playhouse

Seven second-year students taking the German Department’s ‘Literary Translation’ module have recently completed a full translation of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck for the Nottingham Playhouse. Their version of this particularly challenging play had its first read-through at the Playhouse on 14 December, and writer and actor Robin Kingsland, who is adapting the play for the Playhouse’s Youth Theatre, professed himself ‘very impressed’ with the students’ efforts. The students involved found the translation project, which was completed in just five weeks at the end of a busy term, enjoyable and useful: ‘it was a great opportunity to not only try to enhance the language skills I already have but to also start using them to give something back to the community’, one commented. Project co-ordinator Dan Hall (Department of German) stated: ‘The students have done a terrific job under considerable time pressure’. The Nottingham Playhouse Youth Theatre are performing Woyzeck from 12-14 April 2012.