La colmena científica o El café de Negrín by José Ramón Fernández
2024
Forthcoming. This stage play puts a spotlight on the regular exchange of ideas among scientists and artists that took place in the physiology lab run by physician and politician Juan Negrín in the years before the outbreak of civil war in Spain. The original Spanish-language work was the winner of Spain’s prestigious National Prize for Dramatic Literature in 2011. The translation, which is funded by a grant from the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE), will be undertaken jointly with translator Lauren Bonet Spencer.
Broken Toys by Carolina Román
2022
This devastating play follows Mario, who moves from a small town to Barcelona in search of the freedom to express her true self as Marion, at a time when the Franco dictatorship in Spain criminalized sexual and gender minorities. The translation was commissioned by the Cervantes Theatre of London for a 2023 production. A “powerfully visceral work so nicely translated from the Spanish by L. Finch,” says LatinoLife.
Joe Strummer Takes a Walk by Juan Alberto Salvatierra
2020
This surrealistic play imagines what might have happened one night in Granada, Spain, when the lead singer of The Clash set out to locate the remains of poet Federico García Lorca, who was executed by a fascist firing squad in 1936. The original Spanish-language work is the winner of the 2019 Ana Caro Theatre Award. The translation was commissioned by the Cervantes Theatre of London for a 2020 online dramatized reading and a 2021 production. It was also eventually published in a bilingual edition by Ediciones Antígona. “A virtuoso translation by L. Finch,” says BroadwayWorld.
The Crack: Among Wild Animals by Gracia Morales and Juan Alberto Salvatierra
2017
When three friends on a weekend getaway find that their comfortable world has come crashing down, will solidarity or selfishness prevail? This tense, time-hopping play explores what happens to our moral certainties when things take a turn towards the unexpected. The original Spanish-language work is the winner of the Prize for Best Theatrical Authorship at the 2016 Lorca Awards for Andalusian Theatre. My English-language translation is the winner of the 2020 Plays In Translation Contest, organized by the Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre and the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA). The translation was funded by a grant from the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE).
In the Martian Forges by León Arsenal
2016
This science fiction novelette pays homage to The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. The original Spanish-language work is the winner of the Pablo Rido Award in 1998 and the Ignotus Award in 2000. My English-language translation appears in the anthology Castles in Spain: 25 Years of Spanish Fantasy and Science Fiction, published by Sportula Ediciones. Says the website Speculative Fiction in Translation: “The stories in Castles in Spain are … some of the best in the genre, period, stop, end of sentence. Thanks to Sportula and a talented team of translators … we English-language readers can finally experience the diversity and artistry of this collection.”
In Experiments With Rats by Antonio Morcillo Lopez
2016
This play follows a group of lab rats as they try to find meaning in the painful electric shocks they receive. The original Spanish-language work is the winner of the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE) Theater Prize 2007.