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School of Languages, Linguistics and Film

Professor John London, MA (Oxon.), DPhil

Professor of Hispanic Studies, Director of the Centre for Catalan Studies, Editor-in-Chief: 'Hispanic Research Journal'

Centre: Centre for Catalan Studies

Email: j.london@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7882 6641
Room Number: 1.33 Arts One
Website: https://ccsqmul.com/
Office Hours: By consultation

Profile

Editor-in-Chief: Hispanic Research Journal

Research

Research Interests:

Literature, art, theatre, futurism, translation, sport

Publications

Spanish Literature and Theatre

 ‘The Archive of Excesses and the Critical Style of Jorge Luis Borges’, Quinquereme, 9 (1986), 68-76. ISSN 0140 3397. 

‘An Introduction to Miguel Mihura’s Tres sombreros de copa’, Vida Hispánica, 36, no. 3 (1987), 42-43. ISSN 030 849 57.

‘Miguel Mihura’s Place in the Theater of the Absurd: Possible Reasons for and Objections to a Generic Approach’, Anales de La Literatura Española Contemporánea, 14, nos. 1-3 (1989), 79-95. ISSN 0272 1635.

‘Time and Place in La verdad sospechosa: Two Corrections’, Hispanófila, no. 99 (April 1990), 43-46. ISSN 001 82206.

Claves de ‘La verdad sospechosa’ (Madrid: Ciclo Editorial, 1990). 112pp. ISBN 84 87430 68 6.

Reception and Renewal in Modern Spanish Theatre: 1939-1963 (London: Modern Humanities Research Association, 1997). xiv & 273pp. ISBN 0 901 286 83 4.

‘Algunos montajes de Calderón en el Tercer Reich’, in Texto e imagen en Calderón: undécimo coloquio anglogermano sobre Calderón: St Andrews, Escocia, 17-20 de julio de 1996, ed. by Manfred Tietz, Archivum Calderonianum, 8 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1998), pp. 143-57. ISBN 3 515 07215 2.

‘Twentieth-Century Spanish Stage Design’, in Spanish Theatre: 1920-1995: Strategies in Protest and Imagination, a special issue of Contemporary Theatre Review, 7, no. 3 (1998), 25-56. ISSN 1048 6801. ISBN 90 5702 115 3.

‘Federico García Lorca: Spanish Poet and Dramatist, 1898-1936’, in Censorship: A World Encyclopedia, ed. by Derek Jones, 4 vols (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001), II, 906-07. ISBN 1 57958 135 8.

‘Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero’, in The Continuum Companion to Twentieth-Century Theatre, ed. by Colin Chambers (London: Continuum, 2002), p. 20. ISBN 0826 449 59X.

Spanish Film, Theatre and Literature in the Twentieth-Century, ed. by John London and David George (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2007). xxiii & 320pp. ISBN 978 0 7083 1934 5. Co-author of 'Preface' (pp. ix-x); author of ‘Drama in the Spanish Civil War: Was there teatro de urgencia in the Nationalist Zone?’ (pp. 205-36).

'Theatre under Franco: Censorship, Playwriting, and Performance', in A History of Theatre in Spain, ed. by Maria Delgado and David Gies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 341-71. ISBN 9780521117692.

‘Laughing, Spanish Style : Moreto and Tirso de Molina in the Third Reich’, in Dramaturgies of War : Institutional Dramaturgy, Politics, and Conflict in 20th-Century Germany, ed. by Anselm Heinrich and Ann-Christine Simke (Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), pp. 237-61. ISBN 978 3 031 39317 4; (eBook) 978 3 031 39318 1.

 

Catalan Culture

‘Sirera and the Catalan Theatre’, Plays International, 3, no. 12 (July 1988), 18-19. ISSN 0268 2028.

Chronology and Bibliography, translation of eight theatrical poems and author of ‘The Theatrical Poetry of Joan Brossa’, in Joan Brossa, Words are Things: Poems, Objects and Installations, Exhibition Catalogue (London: Riverside Studios, 1992), pp. 28-29, 20-23. ISBN 1 870172 83 4. Article ‘The Theatrical Poetry’ published in Catalan version (trans. by Jean W. Lescouflair and Joan Emili) in Joan Brossa (Valencia: La Forest d’Arana, 1994), pp. 269-73. ISBN 84 604 9314 8.

Contemporary Catalan Theatre: An Introduction, co-editor with David George, contributor and translator, Anglo-Catalan Society Occasional Publications, 9 (Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Society, 1996). 136pp. ISBN 0 9507137 8 3. ‘Introduction’ (with David George), pp. 11-18; ‘Josep Lluís and Rodolf Sirera’, pp. 60-72; ‘Avant-Garde Drama’ (with David George), pp. 73-101. Translator (with David George) of whole volume.

‘What is Catalan Drama?: Language and Identity in Contemporary Catalan Theater: 1939–96’, Estreno, 24, no. 2 (Autumn 1998), 6-13. ISSN 0097 8663.

‘Albert Boadella’, ‘Joan Font’, and ‘Josep Maria Flotats’, entries in Who’s Who in Contemporary World Theatre, ed. by Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe (London: Routledge, 2000), pp. 33, 87-88, 89. ISBN 0 415 14161 3.

‘Simple Words and Complex Politics: Language and Identity in Giuseppe Ungaretti and Joan Brossa’, Angelaki, 5, no. 1 (April 2000), 67-78. ISSN 0969 725X.

‘Catalan Language and Culture: since 1939’; ‘Els Joglars: Catalan Theatre Group, founded 1962’, entries in Censorship: A World Encyclopedia, ed. by Derek Jones, 4 vols (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001), I, 427-29; II, 1281-82. ISBN 1 57958 135 8.

‘Tradició i modernitat’, in Enciclopèdia de la llengua catalana, ed. by Francesc Vallverdú (Barcelona: Edicions 62, 2001), pp. 367-68. ISBN 842 97 50 266.

‘Manuel de Pedrolo’, entry in The Continuum Companion to Twentieth-Century Theatre, ed. by Colin Chambers (London: Continuum, 2002), p. 586. ISBN 0826 449 59X.

'Contemporary Catalan Drama in English: Some Aspirations and Limitations', Contemporary Theatre Review, 17 (2007), 453-62. ISSN 1048 6801.

'Brossa y la lengua', in Bverso Brossa: Joan Brossa, de la poesía al objeto, ed. by Glòria Bordons, exhibition catalogue (Madrid: Instituto Cervantes, 2008), pp. 45-51. ISBN 978 84 88252 41 8. Czech translation: 'Brossa a jazyk', in Bverso Brossa: Joan Brossa, od poezie k objektu, ed. by Glòria Bordons, trans. by Lenka Dostálová, Šárka Holišová and Daniela Šašková (Prague: Instituto Cervantes, 2008), pp. 37-43. No ISBN. German translation: 'Brossa und die Sprache', trans. by Cornelia Eisler and Sarah Steiner, in Joan Brossa - von der Poesie zum Objekt, ed. by Sarah Steiner ([Vienna]: Instituto Cervantes, [2008]), pp. 23-26. No ISBN.

'Catalan Theater without Catalan? Plays and Performances: 1939-1945', Catalan Review, 23 (2009), 191-209. ISSN 0213 5949.

Contextos de Joan Brossa: l'acció, la imatge i la paraula (Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 2010). 245pp. ISBN 978 84 475 3428 9.

‘Rodolf Sirera’s Continuity With(in) History’, TheatreForum, 41 (2012), 21-24. ISSN 1060-5320.

‘Rodolf Sirera’, Visat, no. 14 (October 2012): online: http://www.visat.cat/traduccions-literatura-catalana/cat/autor/177/rodolf-sirera.html. ISSN 2014-5624.

El verí del teatre (1978)’, Visat, no. 14 (October 2012): online: http://www.visat.cat/traduccions-literatura-catalana/cat/articles/97/177/0/0/0/rodolf-sirera.html. ISSN 2014-5624.

‘Aspectes del teatre a Mallorca durant la guerra civil’, in La cara fosca de la cultura catalana: la coŀlaboració amb el feixisme i la dictadura franquista, ed. by Jordi Larios, Temps Obert, 25 (Palma: Lleonard Muntaner, 2013), pp. 305-26. ISBN 978 84 15592 75 4.

Joan Brossa, Poesia escènica VII: La societat i el camí personal, ed. by Glòria Bordons and John London, Textos a Part: Teatre contemporani, 136 (Tarragona: Arola, 2014). 151pp.  ISBN 978 84 94342 57 8. Includes John London, ‘La societat i el camí personal: tres obres per estrenar’ (pp. 7-18).

‘Dramatúrgia i personatges del teatre de Rodolf Sirera: existeixen noves categories analítiques?’, in Actes de la III Jornada sobre els escriptors valencians actuals: Rodolf Sirera: València 2012, Coŀlecció Actes, 13 (Valencia: Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, 2014), pp. 63-73. ISBN 978 84 482 5913 6.

(Review article:) Joan Brossa, Prosa completa i textos esparsos, ed. by Glòria Bordons (Barcelona: RBA-La Magrana, 2013), in Els Marges, no. 104 (Autumn 2014), 119-21. ISSN 0210 0452.

Teatro hispánico y su puesta en escena: estudios en homenaje a Josep Lluís Sirera Turó, ed. by José Luis Canet, Marta Haro, John London, and Biel Sansano, Colección Parnaseo, 31 (Valencia: Universitat de València, 2017). 404pp. ISBN 978 84 9134 074 4. 2nd edition (2017), 415pp. ISBN 978 84 9134 098 0.  Includes: John London, ‘Sergi Belbel’s Carícies, Arthur Schnitzler’s Reigen, and the Seduction of Form’ (pp. 223-34; 237-48).

‘Rodolf Sirera’s El verí del teatre (The Audition): Creating Performance, Reality and Politics On Stage’, in Catalan Culture: Experimentation, Creative Imagination and the Relationship with Spain, ed. by Lloyd H. Davies, Gareth Walters, and J. B. Hall (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2018), pp. 60-97. ISBN 9781786832016; eBook - epub – 9781786832030: eBook - pdf – 9781786832023.

Mediating the Catalan Independence Movement (A Dossier of Studies), ed. by Mari Paz Balibrea and John London, Journal of Catalan Studies, 21, no. 3 (2019), 282-344. ISSN 1139 0271. Includes: Mari Paz Balibrea and John London, ‘Mediating the Catalan Independence Movement: An Introduction to a Dossier of Studies’ (pp. 282-88).

Joan Brossa, El ventríloc: tragèdia en tres actes i tres quadres, ed. by John London (Barcelona: Institut del Teatre, 2020), 49pp. ISBN 978-84-9803-946-7 Online: http://redit.institutdelteatre.cat/handle/20.500.11904/1120

           Includes: John London, ’Presentació general’ (p. 2), ‘Fitxa de lectura’ (pp. 3-5), ‘Bibliografia selecta’ (pp. 6-7), ‘Pròleg’ (pp. 8-15).

'Llúcia Bartre: Amateur Theatre in French Catalonia during World War Two ', in Tot el món és igual que un escenari: estudis d'història, crítica i didàctica del teatre oferts a Enric Gallén en el seu setantè aniversari, ed. by Miquel M. Gibert and Marcel Ortín i Dídac Pujol (Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 2021), pp. 157-79. ISBN: 978-84-9965-630-4.

‘Theatre and Theatricality in Joan Brossa’s Poesia escènica’, in El teatre de l’absurd als nous paradigmes performatius, ed. by Isabel Marcillas-Piquer and Biel Sansano, Escenes Europees, 3 (Lleida: Punctum, 2022), pp. 41-70. ISBN: 978-84-120749-4-9.

Acting Funny on the Catalan Stage: El teatre còmic en català (1900-2016), ed. by John London and Gabriel Sansano (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2022). xiv & 308pp. Includes: John London, ‘Comedy in French Catalonia: Adventures in Mockery and Self-Mockery’ (pp. 147-78); John London and Gabriel Sansano, ‘Studying Catalan Theatrical Comedy: An Introduction’ (pp. 1-42). ISBN 978-1-78707-322-7; (MOBI) 9781787074491; (ePUB) 9781787074484; (PDF) 9781787074477.

‘Restaging Futurism and Joan Brossa: Provocation or Observation with a Glass of Champagne or a Cup of Tea’, in The Edinburgh Companion to Modernism in Contemporary Theatre, ed. by Adrian Curtin, Nicholas Johnson, Naomi Paxton and Claire Warden (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2023), pp. 118-39. ISBN: 9781474495042; (ePub) 9781474495066; (PDF): 9781474495059.

 

Romanian Theatre and Literature

‘Freedom Within Limits: The New Media (Romania)’, Index on Censorship, 19, no. 7 (August 1990), 27-28. ISSN 0306 4220.

With Joanna Harris, ‘New Battlegrounds or Peace In Our Time: The Theatre and Literature after Ceausescu’, Index on Censorship, 19, no. 7 (August 1990), 29. ISSN 0306 4220. (Also published in Soviet and East European Performance.)

‘Norman Manea: Romanian Novelist, 1936-: Plicul negru (The Black Envelope): Novel, 1985-92’, in Censorship: A World Encyclopedia, ed. by Derek Jones, 4 vols (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001), III, 1525-26. ISBN 1 57958 135 8.

‘Discussing the Politics of the European Union on Stage: Some British and Romanian Examples’, in Metodologías teatrales aplicadas a las nuevas dramaturgias contemporáneas, ed. by Josep Lluís Sirera, Remei Miralles, and Rosa Sanmartín (Valencia: Episkenion, 2013), pp. 79-111. ISBN 978 84 940920 0 8.

 

Europe and Theatre

‘Demons and Dangers in the European Idea’ (Review article), Jewish Quarterly, no. 168 (Winter 1997-98), 72-75. ISSN 0449 010X.

‘Dancing with the Dead Man: Notes on a Theatre for the Future of Europe’, in Theatre in Crisis?: Performance Manifestos for a New Century, ed. by Maria Delgado and Caridad Svich (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002), pp. 103-07. ISBN: 0 7190 6290 X (Hdbk); 0 7190 6291 8 (Pbk).

El desig teatral d'Europa, ed. by John London & Víctor Molina, Escenes Europees, 2 (Lleida: Punctum & GRAE, 2013). 221pp. ISBN 978 84 941987 2. Includes John London and Víctor Molina, ‘Pròleg’ (pp. 7-58).

‘Discussing the Politics of the European Union on Stage: Some British and Romanian Examples’, in Metodologías teatrales aplicadas a las nuevas dramaturgias contemporáneas, ed. by Josep Lluís Sirera, Remei Miralles, and Rosa Sanmartín (Valencia: Episkenion, 2013), pp. 79-111. ISBN 978 84 940920 0 8.

‘National Frontiers on Stage: An Ironic Reality in Europe’, in De fronteres: arts escèniques, ed. by Núria Santamaria, with Francesc Foguet, Escenes Europees, 1 (Lleida: Punctum, 2015), pp. 147-67. ISBN 978 84 943779 0 7.

 

Translation Studies

Theatrical Poison: Translating for the Stage’, in Translation in Performance: Papers on the Theory and Practice of Translation, edited by Peter Fawcett and Owen Heathcote, Bradford Occasional Papers, 10 (Bradford: Department of Modern Languages, University of Bradford, 1990), pp. 141-67. ISSN: 0261 0353.

‘Translating Lorca: The Case of Bodas de sangre’, ACIS (Journal of the Association for Contemporary Iberian Studies), 3, no. 2 (Autumn 1990), 55-59. ISSN 0955 4270.

La recepció del teatre contemporani, ed. by John London, Ramon Rosselló and Josep Lluís Sirera, Quaderns de Filologia: estudis literaris, 15 (Valencia: Universitat de València, 2010). 239pp. ISSN 1135 4178. Co-author of ‘Presentació’ (pp. 9-11) and author of ‘Text, Lies, and Linguistic Rape: Rewriting Theatre History in the Light of Dramatic Translations’ (pp. 195-218).

Contextos de Joan Brossa: l'acció, la imatge i la paraula (Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 2010), pp. 121-79. ISBN 978 84 475 3428 9.

‘Translating Futurism’, in One Hundred Years of Futurism: Aesthetics, Politics, and Performance, ed. by John London (Bristol: Intellect; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), pp. 101-45. ISBN 978 1 78320 842 5 (print); 978 1 78320 840 1 (ePDF); 978 1 78320 841 8 (ePUB); (pbk, 2018): 9781783209743.

‘Translating Titles and Content: Artistic Image and Theatrical Action’, in Translating Across Sensory and Linguistic Borders: Intersemiotic Journeys between Media, ed. by Madeleine Campbell and Ricarda Vidal (New York: Palgrave, 2019), pp. 125-45. ISBN 978 3 319 97243 5; eBook: ISBN 978 3 319 97244 2.

 

Fascist Culture, Nazi Theatre & the Holocaust

‘Why Bother About Fascist Culture?’ (review article), Jewish Quarterly, no. 159 (Autumn 1995), 56-59. ISSN 0449 010X.

‘Being a Good German in the Third Reich’ (review article), Jewish Quarterly, no. 160 (Winter 1995), 52-55. ISSN 0449 010X.

‘Algunos montajes de Calderón en el Tercer Reich’, in Texto e imagen en Calderón: undécimo coloquio anglogermano sobre Calderón: St Andrews, Escocia, 17-20 de julio de 1996, ed. by Manfred Tietz, Archivum Calderonianum, 8 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1998), pp. 143-57. ISBN 3 515 07215 2.

‘The Uncertainty of Fascist Aesthetics: Political Ideology and Historical Reality’, Renaissance and Modern Studies, 42 (1999), 49-63. ISSN 0486 3720.

Theatre under the Nazis, ed. by John London (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000). xii & 356pp. ISBN 0 7190 5912 7 (Hdbk); 0 7190 5991 7 (Pbk). Author of prefatory material and ‘Introduction’ (pp.vi-ix, xii, 1-53) and ‘Non-German Drama in the Third Reich’ (pp. 222-61).

‘La Signature culturelle pendant le fascisme: Mussolini, Hitler et Franco’, Perspectives, 8 (2001), 95-107. ISSN 0793 2839.

(Review article:) Art, Music and Education as Strategies for Survival: Theresienstadt 1941-45, ed. by Anne D. Dutlinger (New York: Herodias, 2001) and Zdenka Fantlová, My Lucky Star, transl. by Deryck Viney (New York: Herodias, 2001), in Jewish Quarterly, no. 183 (Autumn 2001), 80-82. ISSN 0449 010X.

‘Le Théâtre pendant l’Holocauste: théâtre interdit, théâtre clandestin ou théâtre de propagande nazie?: questions et directions de recherche’, Perspectives, 10 (2003), 207-29. ISSN 0793 2839. Revised version in Revue d’Histoire du Théâtre, nos. 221-22 (2004), 41-57. ISSN 1291 2530.

‘Theater’, in World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, ed. by Cyprian P. Blamires, with Paul Jackson, 2 vols (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2006), II, 658-60. ISBN 15760 79406.

'El otro cultural en el fascismo: ¿cómo huir de un fenómeno problemático?', Afinidades, no. 5 (Spring 2011), 65-74. ISSN 1189-2841.

‘Laughing, Spanish Style : Moreto and Tirso de Molina in the Third Reich’, in Dramaturgies of War : Institutional Dramaturgy, Politics, and Conflict in 20th-Century Germany, ed. by Anselm Heinrich and Ann-Christine Simke (Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), pp. 237-61. ISBN 978 3 031 39317 4; (eBook) 978 3 031 39318 1.

 

Sport

‘The Ideology and Practice of Sport’, in Spanish Cultural Studies: An Introduction: The Struggle for Modernity, ed. by Helen Graham and Jo Labanyi (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 204-07. ISBN: 0 19 815195 0 (Hdbk); 0 19 815199 3 (Pbk).

‘Competing Together in Fascist Europe: Sport in Early Francoism’, in Fascism and Theatre: Comparative Studies on the Aesthetics and Politics of Performance in Europe, 1925-1945, edited by Günter Berghaus (Providence, RI: Berghahn Books, 1996), pp. 229-46. ISBN: 1 57181 877 4 (Hdbk); 1 57181 901 0 (Pbk).

‘Italy 1934: Football and Fascism’ (with Robert S. C. Gordon), in National Identity and Global Events: Culture, Politics and Spectacle in the Olympics and the Football World Cup, ed. by Alan Tomlinson and Christopher Young (Albany: State University of New York, 2006), pp. 41-63. ISBN 978 0 7914 6615 5.

‘Football/Soccer’, in World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, ed. by Cyprian P. Blamires, with Paul Jackson, 2 vols (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2006), I, 239-40. ISBN 15760 79406.

 

Futurism

Futurismo in Israele, ed. by John London (London: Theatre of the Page, 1998). 116pp. No ISBN.

One Hundred Years of Futurism: Aesthetics, Politics, and Performance, ed. by John London (Bristol: Intellect; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017). Xv & 288pp. ISBN 978 1 78320 842 5 (print); 978 1 78320 840 1 (ePDF); 978 1 78320 841 8 (ePUB); (pbk, 2018): 9781783209743. Includes John London, ‘Introduction’ (pp. 1-45); ‘Translating Futurism’ (pp. 101-45); ‘Forward is Forewarned’ (pp. 173-81); ‘Writing Futurist Drama in 2009’ (pp. 193-202); ‘Bibliography’ (pp. 261-76).

‘Restaging Futurism and Joan Brossa: Provocation or Observation with a Glass of Champagne or a Cup of Tea’, in The Edinburgh Companion to Modernism in Contemporary Theatre, ed. by Adrian Curtin, Nicholas Johnson, Naomi Paxton and Claire Warden (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2023), pp. 118-39. ISBN: 9781474495042; (ePub) 9781474495066; (PDF): 9781474495059.

 

Miscellaneous

‘Veronica Forrest-Thomson and the Art of Artifice’, fragmente, no. 4 (Autumn/Winter 1991), 80-88. ISSN 0960 0450.

'Political Theatre: A Letter from London', (Pausa.), no. 22 (November 2005), 156-59; Catalan translation: 10-15. ISSN 1699 6070.

 

Translations from: Spanish

The Mayor of Zalamea, adapted from the Spanish of Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Commissioned for a Youth Theatre production at the Chichester Festival, 7-9 August 1987.

Ay, Carmela!, translated from the Spanish ¡Ay, Carmela! by José Sanchis Sinisterra. Productions: BAC Studio, London, 12-31 May 1992; Contact Theatre, Manchester, 22 May–15 June 1996; Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich, February 1998. Published: Plays International, 11, no. 11 (June 1996), 30-45, ISSN 0268 2028; (Altrincham: New Theatre Publications, 2003), 70pp. ISBN 184094 322X.

The Unknown Federico García Lorca: Dialogues, Dramatic Projects, Unfinished Plays & a Filmscript, ed. and trans. by John London (London: Atlas Press, 1996). 128pp. ISBN 0 947757 94 5. (The Dream of Life performed: St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, 14-18 May 1991; Théâtre d’Evreux, France, 7 May 1994; Connaught Theatre, Worthing, 22 May 1994; Hawth Arts Centre, Crawley, 27 May 1994; selection of unfinished texts and projects performed at Columbia University, New York, May 2001.)

Love Letters to Stalin, translated from the Spanish of Juan Mayorga. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 31 July 1998.

The Good Neighbour, translated from the Spanish of Juan Mayorga. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 25 March 2002.

Chloe and the Theory of Flowers, translated from the Spanish of Cheddy Mendizábal Álvarez, for workshops run by the Royal Court Theatre in Cuba, April 2003.

Twilight, translated from the Spanish of Eulalia Bárbara Nieves, for workshops run by the Royal Court Theatre in Cuba, April 2003.

Extract from The Concert, translated from the Spanish of Ulises Rodríguez Febles, for workshops run by the Royal Court Theatre in Cuba, April 2003.

Extract from Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation, or Playing House, translated from the Spanish of Oliver de Jesús Hernández Jiménez, for workshops run by the Royal Court Theatre in Cuba, April 2003.

Nadia, the Pilot, the Female Soldier and the Pornographer, translated from the Spanish of Lola Arias. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for the Summer School and a rehearsed reading, 6 August 2003.

Verónica Surefoot, translated from the Spanish of Cheddy Mendizábal Álvarez, for workshops run by the Royal Court Theatre in Cuba, October 2003.

The Shipwreck of Faith, translated from the Spanish of Lilian Susel, for workshops run by the Royal Court Theatre in Cuba, October 2003; revised version for professional rehearsed reading, Royal Court Theatre, 1 April 2004.

Portraits, translated from the Spanish of Lilian Susel. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for the Summer School and a rehearsed reading, 11 August 2004.

Finding Home, from the Spanish of Beatriz Viol (five poems); produced as film by PartSuspended, 2018 (Barcelona/London): https://youtu.be/hka9jIx1f9s; published fully (2019): http://poetryfilmlive.com/spirals-tracks-for-finding-home/

 

Translations from: Catalan

The Audition, translated from the Catalan of Rodolf Sirera’s El verí del teatre. Productions: Gate Theatre, London, 8 February–5 March 1988; Dublin Theatre Festival, October 1990; Adam House Theatre, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Festival, 17-29 August 1992; Arcola Theatre, London May 2013. Published: Plays International, 3, no. 12 (July 1988), 54-58, ISSN 0268 2028; and Plays of the New Democratic Spain (1975-1990), ed. by Patricia O’Connor (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1992), pp. 165-91. ISBN: 0 8191 8441 1 (Hdbk); 0 8191 8442 X (Pbk); rev. edition in book Modern Catalan Plays.

English version of extracts from Ramon Lull’s Blanquerna, in John London and Iain McLean, ‘The Borda and Condorcet Principles: Three Medieval Applications’, Social Choice and Welfare, 7 (1990), 99-108; I. McLean and J. London, ‘Ramon Lull and the Theory of Voting’, Studia Lulliana, 32, no. 1 (1992), 21-37. ISSN 1132 130X.

Deep Down, translated from the Catalan En companyia d’abisme, by Sergi Belbel. Commissioned for a series of rehearsed readings of contemporary Spanish drama, entitled ‘Beyond Lorca’, at the Soho Poly Theatre, London, 12 January 1990. Co-organizer of the series. Production: Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh University, 22 January 1992. Published: Modern International Drama, 26, no. 2 (Spring 1993), 5-24. ISSN 00 267 856.

Thirteen articles (in Spanish and Catalan) by Salvador Dalí, trans. and ed. with notes in Salvador Dalí: The Early Years, ed. by Michael Raeburn, Exhibition Catalogue (London: South Bank Centre, 1994), pp. 214-29, 233. ISBN 1 85332 125 7. ‘Yellow Manifesto’ and ‘Photography, Pure Creation of the Mind’, repr. in Manifesto: A Century of Isms, ed. by Mary Ann Caws (Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2001), pp. 367-71, 482-83. ISBN 0 8032 6407 0.

After the Rain, translated with Xavier Rodríguez Rosell and David George from the Catalan Després de la pluja, by Sergi Belbel. Productions: Gate Theatre, London, March 1996; Theatre Four, New York, May 1999; Theatre Royal Bath, July 2001; Vicious Fish Theatre, Melbourne, February-March 2005. Published: in Klaus Chatten and Sergi Belbel, Sugar Dollies and After the Rain (London: Methuen Drama, 1996), pp. 85-178. ISBN 0 413 70790 3.

If I were you, from the Catalan of Beth Escudé i Gallés, commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 6 August 1996.

Nine poems by Joan Brossa, translated from the Catalan, with an introduction, in Metamorphoses, 5, no. 2 (April 1997), 126-33. ISSN 1068 7831.

Six poems by J.V. Foix, translated from the Catalan, in Readings of J.V. Foix, ed. by Arthur Terry, Anglo-Catalan Society Occasional Publications, 10 (Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Society, 1998), pp. 15-19. ISBN 84 7609 8804.

The Meeting, translated from the Catalan of Lluïsa Cunillé. Commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival for a production in the Royal Lyceum Theatre, 16-21 August 1999; broadcast on BBC Radio 3, 17 October 1999. Published in Lluïsa Cunillé and David Greig, The Meeting and The Speculator (London: Methuen, 1999), pp. 121-77. ISBN 0 413 743101.

Caresses, translated from the Catalan Carícies, by Sergi Belbel. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 8 April 1997. Productions: Equity Showcase Theatre, Toronto, Canada, May 2001; St Andrews University, Scotland, May 2001; New York Fringe Festival, August 2003; Vicious Fish Theatre, Melbourne, August 2004. Published: in Spanish Plays, ed. by Elyse Dodgson and Mary Peate (London: Nick Hern Books, 1999), pp. 1-54. ISBN 185459 418 4.

Holidays, translated from the Catalan of Carlota Subirós Bosch. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 30 April 1999.

Modern Catalan Plays, ed. by John London and David George, author of the Introduction (pp. ix-xix), translator of one play (Rodolf Sirera, The Audition), and co-translator of another play (Joan Brossa, The Quarrelsome Party) (London: Methuen, 2000). xix & 238pp. ISBN 0 413 74440 X.

Translations from the Catalan, French and German of catalogue essays for the exhibition Joan Brossa o la revolta poètica, ed. by M. Guerrero (Barcelona: Krtu, 2001). ISBN 84 393 5344 8.

The Special Reservation, translated from the Catalan of Héctor Lozano i Colomer. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, July 2002.

Fotopoemario, translated from the Catalan of Joan Brossa (Madrid: La Fábrica, 2003; 2nd edn 2008), pp. 86-89. ISBN 84 95471 67 1.

Brutes, translated from the Catalan of Víctor Muñoz i Calafell. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for the Summer School and a rehearsed reading, August 2005.

Swimming Pool, translated from the Valencian Catalan of Juli Disla. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 9 August 2000; production at Mountview Academy, London, 24-26 March 2005. Published: (Warrington: New Theatre Publications, 2005), 43pp. ISBN 1 84094 485 4.

An Absent Look, trans. from the Catalan of Mercè Sarrias. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre; production of sections: Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and White Bear Theatre, London, November 2005. Published: in A Female Scene: Three Plays by Catalan Women, ed. by Montserrat Roser i Puig (Nottingham: Five Leaves Publications and Anglo-Catalan Society, 2007), pp. 43-88. ISBN 978 1905512 201 1.

Declassified, trans. from the Catalan of Pere Riera. Commissioned by the Sala Beckett, Barcelona; published online (2011): http://www.catalandrama.cat/obres/desclassificats

Continuity, trans. from the Catalan of Rodolf Sirera, TheatreForum, 41 (2012), 25-44. ISSN 1060-5320.

Bureaucracy (2011) from the Catalan of Joan Brossa, Burocràcia, in transRTation!: Wandering Texts, Travelling Objects, ed. by Manuela Perteghella, Eugenia Loffredo and Anna Milsom ([London]: Arts Council England, 2017), unpaginated. Shown in exhibition in St Andrews and Norwich, 2017. No ISBN. Online: transRTation! at: http://transartation.co.uk/project/john-london/

Islàndia, from the Catalan of Lluïsa Cunillé. Commission from the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. 2014. Performed as work in progress, Queen Mary, University of London, 5 December 2017.

 

Translations from: Portuguese

Emptying, translated from the Portuguese of Beatriz Gonçalves. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading as part of the Brazilian Week, 16 January 2003.

No Memory, or Random, translated from the Portuguese of Pedro Vicente. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading as part of the Brazilian Week, 20 January 2003.

 

Translations from: Romanian

An extract from Ubu and Milena, translated from the Romanian of Nina Tantar. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 28 July 1998.

The Polygraph, translated from the Romanian of Alina Nelega. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 30 April 1999.

The Last Men, translated from the Romanian of Andreea Valean. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 9 August 2001.

Where the Smoke’s Going, translated from the Romanian of Andreea Valean. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 25 March 2002.

The Earth Worm and the Spleen, translated from the Romanian of Theo Herghelegiu. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for the Summer School and a rehearsed reading, 6 August 2003.

Liffey, translated from the Romanian of Gianina Carbunariu. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for the Summer School and a rehearsed reading, 11 August 2004. New version, entitled Kebab, commissioned for a rehearsed reading at the Royal Court, 15 June 2005.

Dodo. Nadia. Karel. Kurt, translated from the Romanian of Stefan Peca. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for the Summer School and a rehearsed reading, August 2005.

The Pirate DJ, translated from the Romanian of Gianina Carbunariu. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London. 2006.

 

Translations from: Italian

The Present, translated with Robert Gordon from the Italian Il regalo by Decio Cinti, Modern International Drama, 26, no. 2 (Spring 1993), 55-58. ISSN 00 267 856.

Non c’è un cane / Not a Dicky Bird (2015), translated and directed by John London from the Italian Non c’è un cane, by Francesco Cangiullo: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjDjTYkjtxw&feature=youtu.be>

‘Address to the Institutum Pataphysicum Mediolanense’, by Farfa; ‘The Anopticon’, by Umberto Eco, The Journal of the London Institute of ’Pataphysics, 26 (2022), 82-84, 109. ISSN 2045 7480. ISBN 978 1 913407 08 7.

 

Translation from: German

Suzuki, translated from a German version of the play by Alexei Shipenko. Commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London, for a rehearsed reading, 6 December 1997.

 

Reviews

Book reviews in: Comparative Literature, Vida Hispánica, Jazznews International, New Theatre Quarterly, The Times Higher Education Supplement, Tesserae: Journal of Iberian & Latin American Studies, Contemporary Theatre Review, Jewish Quarterly, Jewish Culture and History, Modern Language Review, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Shakespeare in Southern Africa, Comparative Drama, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, Studies in Theatre & Performance, Australian Journal of Jewish Studies, Revista Hispánica Moderna, Hispanic Research Journal, The European Legacy, International Journal of Iberian Studies.

Performance reviews in: Celestinesca, El Público, Escena, Estreno, The Stage, The Times, Times Higher Education Supplement, Times Literary Supplement; Plays International (regular 1989-2013), Sardines.

 

Published theatre, manifestos & art

Past Possibilities and Practice: For Joan Brossa (Oxford: The Trilobites, 1992). No ISBN. Performed Oxford, 23 February 1992.

El teatre de la pàgina (Oxford: The Trilobites, 1993). No ISBN. An extract also published in (Pausa.), no. 15 (November 1993), 117-18 (Spanish translation, p. 181). ISSN 1699 6070. ‘The Theatre of Crime’, also in: transRTation!: Wandering Texts, Travelling Objects, ed. by Manuela Perteghella, Eugenia Loffredo and Anna Milsom ([London]: Arts Council England, 2017), unpaginated. Shown in exhibition in St Andrews and Norwich, 2017. No ISBN. Online: transRTation! at: http://transartation.co.uk/project/john-london/

‘Cinc poemes’, in Homenatge a Joan Brossa: Passat festes (Valencia: La Forest d’Arana, 1993), pp. 81-86. ISBN 84 604 6717 1.

The Closed Book (Oxford: The Trilobites, 1994). No ISBN.

Great Theatres of The World (Oxford and London: The Trilobites, 1994). No ISBN. Also in: transRTation!: Wandering Texts, Travelling Objects, ed. by Manuela Perteghella, Eugenia Loffredo and Anna Milsom ([London]: Arts Council England, 2017), unpaginated. Shown in exhibition in St Andrews and Norwich, 2017. No ISBN. Online: transRTation! at: http://transartation.co.uk/project/john-london/

Post-Karten (Berlin: Nithack Verlag, 1994). No ISBN.

‘L’objecte (Un manifest post-teatral)’, Els Marges, no. 52 (March 1995), 71-72. ISSN 0210 0452.

‘Crònica endarrerida d’una tertúlia de l’Associació: una nota sobre la caducitat dels textos teatrals’, Butlletí de l’Associació d’Espectadors del Teatre Lliure, no. 19 (February 1996), 16. No ISSN.

The Sausage Priest/El sacerdot de la botifarra, in Primera trobada internacional ‘Creativitat ara’, ed. by Miquel Pérez Robles and Pep P. Montaner (L’Alfàs del Pi: Ajuntament de l’Alfàs del Pi, 1996), unpaginated. ISBN 84 921336 1 9.

‘La funció del text teatral’, El Vaitot, no. 1 (May 1998), 78-79. ISSN 1136 2014.

You Know How These Things Are: Swansea Photodialogues, performed at S’Trim, London, 16 August 1998 (London: Silver Arts, 1998), 32pp. ISBN 1 902613 007.

Right Couples: Two Short Plays (Altrincham: New Theatre Publications, 2003), 25pp. ISBN 18 4094 3343. Right performed at Union Theatre as part of Union of Shorts 2, London, 11-29 May 1999.

The New Europe: Scenes from a Unified Continent, performed at White Bear Theatre, London, 1-20 February 2000 (Altrincham: New Theatre Publications, 2001), 58pp. ISBN 184094 2800. Published in Catalan as La nova Europa, Teatre, 52 (Valencia: Tres i Quatre, 2005).137pp. ISBN: 84 7502 709 1. Unpublished translation in Hebrew as Europa Hadasha, trans. by Shlomit Warshavsky, 2003.

Nex, performed at the George Wood Theatre, Goldsmiths College, London, 21-22 April 2005; published in Plays International, 20, nos. 7-8 (May 2005), 56-60. ISSN 0268 2028.

‘Teatres de la pàgina’ (a selection), Episkenion, 1 (June 2013), 151-58. ISSN 2340-4485.

‘Unauthorized Instructions for the Performance of Texts by Joan Brossa’, in The Least Important Things, ed. by Emily Mast (Los Angeles, CA: Double Ampersand Press, 2014), p. 12. ISBN 978 0 989 589 420.

A Futurist Doll’s House, performed at Amersham Arms, London, 19 February 2009; Queen Mary University of London, 2 July 2009; published in One Hundred Years of Futurism: Aesthetics, Politics, and Performance, ed. by John London (Bristol: Intellect; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), pp. 198-201. ISBN 978 1 78320 842 5 (print); 978 1 78320 840 1 (ePDF); 978 1 78320 841 8 (ePUB).

The Light Trail & Other Suggestions for Performance ([London]: The Trilobites, 2019). No ISBN.

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