Poetry is considered one of the most difficult forms of language to translate. Nevertheless, Pei Te Hurinui Jones translated Shakespeare's verse play The merchant of Venice into Māori in 1945. Don Selwyn directed the first stage performance in 1985, and a cinema version in 2001. This extract shows act one, scene two of Te tangata whai rawa o Weneti, in which Portia (in the red gown), a wealthy single woman, complains to her lady-in-waiting Nerissa (in red and gold) that she is not allowed to choose her own husband. Instead, according to her late father's will, prospective husbands must guess which of three chests contains her portrait. Portia criticises an English suitor for not knowing Italian or any of the other languages she speaks.
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Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Reference:
F83103
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