On Wednesday 2nd May, Cape Town theatre personalities, writers, diplomats and invited guests gathered at Magnet Theatre, Observatory to recognise the South African winners of the inaugural Theatre in Translation initiative organised by Proyecto 34°S.Proyecto 34°S is an independent organisation that produces festivals and projects with a focus on contemporary performing arts and active artistic exchange and contact between the diverse peoples and cultures of Africa and Latin America. Its activities aim to foster creative relationships and dialogue between artists and audiences, as well as artistic appreciation, social consciousness and cultural understanding.The Theatre in Translation project aims to encourage the exchange and appreciation of written theatre plays from Africa and Latin America, recognising and rewarding quality, originality and cultural diversity whilst also bridging the language gap through means of translation and actively promoting and ensuring access to the selected plays by local and international readers. In 2011, South African and Argentine playwrights were invited to submit written plays, in any of the national languages of these two countries, for consideration by the judging panel. Ten semifinalist plays were chosen from each country and their collected 900 pages were translated by some 50 volunteer translators, from ten countries, into English and Spanish. These plays are all available for free download in English and Spanish from the Proyecto 34ºS online library at http://www.proyecto34s.com/library/index.html Also, the five finalist plays from each country, ten in total, have been published in English as Theatre in Translation Vol. I: Ten plays from Argentina and South Africa. The book is available through Proyecto 34°S and orders have already been received from as far afield as Canada. In the future, Proyecto 34°S will continue this project with different countries in Africa and Latin America.Proyecto 34°S is now working closely with the SA Embassy in Argentina, with South African ambassador Tony Leon, to produce the winning SA play, Green Man Flashing by Mike van Graan, in Spanish, with an Argentine cast. The production is planned to premier in November 2012 in Buenos Aires. The winning Argentine play, Cooking with Elisa by Lucía Laragione, will be produced in South Africa, in English with a local cast, in 2013.The complete list of selected authors:Theatre in Translation 2011South Africa:Finalists: Green Man Flashing by Mike van Graan (*winner)Sister Priscilla’s Dilemma: The Nun with a Gun by Julian de WetteI am Here by Peter HayesThe Tent by Megan FurnissFate by Nicola HanekomSemi-finalists: The Sea-woman’s Kiss by Tanya Cham-SamThe Pump Room by Allan Kolski HorwitzThe Crossing by Jonathan NkalaSo(u)le by Clive MathibeBatata a Murro by Tristan JacobsArgentina: Finalists: Cooking with Elisa by Lucía Laragione (*winner)Tanabata (The Paper Legend) by Natalia AparicioLía and Ana by Bibiana RicciardiBody Art by Sol Rodríguez SeoaneI was Waiting for You by Martín MarcouSemi-finalists: Not Quite There by Melisa FreundDream about Onions by Natalia CasiellesAfrica (A continent...) by Patricia ZangaroKeine Piano (Violin Partitas) by Mariana OberszternPerhaps... by Sol Pavéz For more information, please contact: Nikki Froneman nikki@proyecto34s.com www.proyecto34s.com021 6859733PHOTOGRAPHS:All photos by Peter Russell.