Transferring work from one culture to another through translation or adaptation is a delicate process which requires careful consideration of both the positionality of the adapter and the intertextual reaction of the adapted work's target audience. In addition to traditional adaptation theories like intertextuality, the theatrical field of dramaturgy offers helpful insight into the adaptation process, especially as it relates to plays. This dissertation examines the ways that the combination of adaptation studies and dramaturgy, which Jane Barnette calls adapturgy, can inform intercultural adaptaitons of dramatic literature to create performable and effective theatre experiences for twenty-first century audiences. I achieve this goal by first examining two adapted plays: A Little Betrayal Among Friends by Caridad Svich, adapted from La traicion en la amistad by Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor, and Fever/Dream by Sheila Callaghan, adapted from La vida es sueno by Pedro Calderon de la Barca. I look at how dramaturgical and adapation theories can be applied to these plays via script analysis and contextual questioning. Then, using the skills gleaned from those two examples, I create my own translation and adaptation of Los empenos de una casa by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, and I reflect on my adapturgical process of doing so. In creating both a translation, titled How to Build a Noble House, and an adaptation, titled With the Temptation, a Way of Escape, I both preserve the unique traits of the Spanish Golden Age for performance in the twenty-first century and amplify Sor Juana's comedic and social intentions for a contemporary society. I believe that both of these considerations, alongside a reflection on the adapter's positionality and the intentions of the producing organization and production team for a live production, are invaluable to both the field of adaptaiton studies and of dramaturgy.
Intercultural adapturgy : twenty-first century women adapting Spanish golden age plays