The Japan Foundation Asia Center Grant and Fellowship Programs

Checkpoint Theatre was accepted into Kinosaki International Arts Center’s Artist in Residence Program 2016 to further develop and complete a translation project of the Singapore play “Cogito” from English to Japanese. “Cogito” was a commission of the Singapore Arts Festival and is written by award-winning playwricht huzir Sulaiman.
The project was started with the aim of creating greater interest in and awareness of contemporary Asian plays among Asian countries through the process of devised translation. Translation of plays are usually done between the Asian and Western canon of theatre. However, there are so many rich stories that are not shared among Asian countries due to language barriers. This lingual barrier also plagues translations that are often not sensitive to the language, cultural and societal intricacies found beyond the page.
Checkpoint Thatre recognised this gap and sought to fill it by devising a unique process of translation that involves the translator-dramaturge working with the playwright-dramaturge, director-dramaturge, translator-director and three translator-actors in a series of intense discussions, workshops, devised exercises and rehearsals. This holistic methodology ― combining literary, theatrical, and intercultural considerations ― was conceived by Checpoint Theatre and subsequently explored with a Japanese theatre group in 2012 and 2013. The Cogito Translation Project picked up where this initial exploration left off to translate anew, rehearse and present a lecture-performance of the entire play by Japanese performers for Japanese audiences over the course of our 2016/2017 residency at Kinosaki International Arts Center.