AMT Lab @ CMU: Dated to 1722, the first American opera house (named, “The Playhouse”) is believed to have been constructed in Williamsburg, Virginia– which served as the nation’s capital between 1699 and 1780. A majority of performers in the first half of the eighteenth century were from England, and performed translated works from Italy and Germany.
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Personally, I believe that language can be a big barrier to enjoying a performance. I remember watching Wicked as I kid when they toured in China and feeling as if I only saw a half of the show because I keep having to look at the screens for subtitles. I have also recently watched Madame Butterfly perform in Italian in Taiwan. The frustration with translation was similar but I still appreciated the opera being performed in its original language. I think the points in this article are correct that we shouldn’t eliminate the diversity of languages in performances just because we worry that the audience won’t be able to understand. I feel that the focus should be on how to use other elements to best weaken the language barrier. For example, maybe the program handed pre-show should include a clear synopsis; or maybe the designs help facilitate the story's telling. Either way, I think the article brings up an interesting topic and something all theatre companies need to be aware of.
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