Dear Conjunction Theatre Company
The cast of Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, Sept 2003
Founded by Leslie Clack, Patricia Kessler and Barbara Bray (four-time winner of the Scott Moncrieff literary translation prize)
DEAR CONJUNCTION was founded as a bilingual theatre company in 1991 with the aim of performing texts in both English and French. Our aim is to introduce quality plays to a European public that may not already be familiar with them. To date, we have performed Art by Yasmina Réza in Uppsala, Sweden, Not I and Krapp’s Last Tape as part of Transpositions: A Beckett Festival in Krakow, Poland, and Frank McGuinness’s Someone Who’ll Watch over Me on a tour of Ireland; as well as countless productions over the years of plays by Pinter, Beckett and Wodehouse throughout France and the UK. The name 'Dear Conjunction' neatly sums up the Company's fundamental bilingual function, and is taken from Shakespeare's Henry V, referring to the marriage between Catherine of France and Henry V of England: "May this dear conjunction / Plant neighbourhood and Christian-like accord / In their sweet bosoms."
FRENCH KING.
Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
Issue to me; that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, whose very shores look pale
With envy of each other's happiness,
May cease their hatred; and this dear conjunction
Plant neighbourhood and Christian-like accord
In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance
His bleeding sword 'twixt England and fair France.
Henry V, Act V, Sc. II
DEAR CONJUNCTION was founded as a bilingual theatre company in 1991 with the aim of performing texts in both English and French. Our aim is to introduce quality plays to a European public that may not already be familiar with them. To date, we have performed Art by Yasmina Réza in Uppsala, Sweden, Not I and Krapp’s Last Tape as part of Transpositions: A Beckett Festival in Krakow, Poland, and Frank McGuinness’s Someone Who’ll Watch over Me on a tour of Ireland; as well as countless productions over the years of plays by Pinter, Beckett and Wodehouse throughout France and the UK. The name 'Dear Conjunction' neatly sums up the Company's fundamental bilingual function, and is taken from Shakespeare's Henry V, referring to the marriage between Catherine of France and Henry V of England: "May this dear conjunction / Plant neighbourhood and Christian-like accord / In their sweet bosoms."
FRENCH KING.
Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
Issue to me; that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, whose very shores look pale
With envy of each other's happiness,
May cease their hatred; and this dear conjunction
Plant neighbourhood and Christian-like accord
In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance
His bleeding sword 'twixt England and fair France.
Henry V, Act V, Sc. II
