The Myth of Paris and the Comedy of Translation: Behind the Scenes of Apologia With Nicola Gunn

We’ve all pretended to be someone we’re not, haven’t we? In partnership with Malthouse Theatre, we speak with Nicola Gunn about her fantasy of becoming a French film actress and her fascination with translation, which inspired her new play, Apologia.

What makes a person French? This question inspired writer, director and performer Nicola Gunn’s new play, Apologia, which will run from August 6 to 18 at Malthouse Theatre. Built from four years of conversations with renowned French theatre translator Séverine Magois, the play examines Gunn’s personal fantasy of becoming a French actress.

“During Covid I just decided, ‘Oh god, I wish I was French’. I just thought, I’d like to be a French film actress. I thought I would set myself the most impossible task,” Gunn says. “The absurdity of asking this very respected translator of plays to try to make me French was the initial concept.”

Apologia is the second instalment in Gunn’s trilogy The Interpreters. Each work in the trilogy is a standalone piece, but they all revolve around similar themes, including language, interpretation and translation.

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It asks: how much does communication shape our identity? Is it possible to become French if you can’t speak the language? What is it to be French? What is it to be any nationality?

Apologia follows conversations between Gunn and Magois as they attempt to transform Gunn into a French actress, in time for her to perform in an upcoming (fictional) film. A subplot unfolds at the same time, where two Japanese tourists experience “Paris syndrome” – a term describing the phenomenon when the reality of the highly mythologised city fails to meet expectations. While Gunn’s character – a fictionalised version of herself – perpetuates the ideals of French beauty and elegance, the tourists demystify it.

“I have always wanted to be French ever since I was a teenager,” says Gunn. “And it's for all the ridiculous reasons that you can imagine. I have a conception of Frenchness being, like, the epitome of sophistication, elegance and intelligence.”

Part of the play’s comedy comes from Gunn being unable to speak a word of French. Her main collaborator Magois, on the other hand, is regarded as a master of French theatre translation. Despite this, the pair share many similarities. They find connection through exploring their own relationships with their mothers.

“A lot of people my age seem to be thinking and writing about motherhood and relationships with our mothers. There’s a lot in the literary landscape right now,” says Gunn. “I guess people in my generation, we’re sort of in that middle-age bracket. Our parents are ageing and we’re thinking a lot about mortality and what it is to be a mother, and what it is to be motherless.”

Gunn hopes Apologia will open conversations among the audience, encouraging us to think about our language use, communication styles and choice of conversations.

“We have such subjective relationships to language,” she says. “A word has particular associations for us. Words can be incredibly powerful and painful to hear, or they can be joyful or loving … but they’re just sounds. It’s amazing to me how much meaning we’ve assigned to sounds. When you start thinking about it, it sort of shakes up reality a little bit.”

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Malthouse Theatre. Apologia will run at Malthouse Theatre from August 6 to 18. See more information and purchase tickets.