I went to the Swan Theatre (Stratford-on-Avon) last night, to see the new David Edgar play,
Written on the Heart. The play tells the story of the making of the King James Bible. Oh my word! Within five minutes of the play beginning, I was alternately either open mouthed, or trying to stifle laughter at the discussions taking place between the various bishops and scholars over which translation reflected the Latin most effectively. Should they opt for a literal translation, or words that convey the meaning in language that ‘a plough boy’ would understand? In Genesis 1:2, for example, did God
‘hover over the face of the water’, or
‘move on the face of the water’, or
'move on the surface of the water’? And in 2 Samuel 1:26, there was great debate about whether to use
‘very pleasant’, over an apparently more accurate translation –
‘delectable’. It all sounded almost reassuringly familiar.
The play spans 80 years, following William Tyndale’s work translating the bible from the Hebrew in around 1531, to the eventual production of the King James Bible in 1611.
It’s an excellent play, and a fascinating historical account in its own right but, for Catholics, struggling with our own new translation of the missal, it has particular resonance. I was spellbound!
If you live anywhere near Stratford-on-Avon, this play is well worth seeing.
