Shakespeare and Thomas More in Spain

On the First Performance of the First Spanish Translation of Sir Thomas More


Shakesepare and Thomas More in Spain
by
Joseph Pearce

I've received a very exciting e-mail from Aurora Rice Derqui, one of the two translators, with Enrique Garcia-Maique, of my bookThrough Shakespeare's Eyes into Spanish. Aurora and Enrique also made the first ever Spanish translation of the play, Sir Thomas More, of which Shakespeare was probably the principal author. I was honoured to write the preface for the first Spanish edition of the play, published last year.

Aurora wrote to me in the afterglow of having seen the play this past Saturday, on the anniversary of St. Thomas More's martyrdom. Here's the text of her e-mail:  

Dear Joseph,

We have just come back from the Almagro Theatre Festival, where Tomás Moro has been staged for the first time. Believe me, what a wonderful experience. I could see the audience liked it immensely, and it was incredibly moving for us translators to hear "our" words spoken on the stage by excellent actors. José Luis Patiño is a great More. You can tell he understands.

This is the handout, with some photos of the production:

http://www.esarteycultura.com/espectaculo.php?id=29

...and this is an example of how the national press is talking about it:

http://www.lanzadigital.com/cultura/la_primera_visita_de_tomas_moro_a_espanya_le_augura_un_prometedor_futuro-51389.html

And we have you to thank for this, because we were first inspired to translate Sir Thomas More after reading about it in The Quest for Shakespeare. So Spain is indebted, first of all, to you for Tomás Moro. Thank you.

Very, very sincere regards,

Aurora

And here's my reply:

Dear Aurora,

Thanks so much for sending me these details of the Almagro Theatre Festival and also, and especially, for your kind and encouraging words about my own small role in bringing the play to Spain. My own role is miniscule compared to your own labours to translate the play into Spanish and I feel that it is I who am indebted to you and Enrique, and not vice versa, for your wonderful work in translating my own work on Shakespeare into Spanish. Thank you so much!

Might I have your permission to publish the text of your e-mail on the St. Austin Review (www.staustinreview.com) and Christian Shakespeare (www.christianshakespeare.com) websites?

Warmest wishes,

Joseph