Ithaca College

Walter Byongsok Chon, Assistant Professor of Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies, presents his paper “The Radio Play and What Lies Beyond: Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Doppelganger” at the ALTA (The American Literary Translators Association) Conference in Bloomington, IN, on November 3. 

His presentation is part of the panel, “Play for Voices: Translating Audio Drama.”  Walter’s paper argues that this play’s richness and contemporary relevance is best illustrated when read with a focus on its meta-theatrical dramaturgy.  This play challenges and vitalizes the notion of theatre and the exploration of identity by its self-conscious theatrical frame and its appeal to active listenership.

Walter translated Dürrenmatt’s Der Doppelganger into English.  His translation is being produced by the company Play for Voices and is scheduled to be released as a podcast in December.  

The play begins with the radio show host asking his guest playwright for a story. The story begins at night. There is a man. He is asleep. At a noise, he wakes up and finds his Doppelganger, an identical version of him, sitting in front of him. The Doppelganger tells him that the Man has been sentenced to death for a murder. The murder was committed by the Doppelganger. The Man claims his innocence but is arrested all the same. Now he has to fight for his innocence. Durrenmatt asks: Should a man be responsible for his criminal potential?