OLHARES SOBRE… | Between Two Hamlets: King Luís I, Shakespeare and Translation Today
In the 19th century, King Luís I of Portugal, a keen man of letters, produced his own Portuguese translation of Hamlet. Almost 150 years later, in 2026, a new Portuguese translation by Daniel Ramalho has been published by Almedina/Edições 70. This session brings these two landmark moments in the history of Shakespeare in Portugal together. It celebrates the royal translation and its special place in how Portugal came to know Shakespeare, setting it alongside a fresh, contemporary reading of the same play.
By reading and comparing passages from the English original, King Luís I's version and Daniel Ramalho's new translation, participants will explore what makes Shakespeare's writing so remarkable: its rhythm and metre, wordplay, ambiguity, humour, and the constant interplay between the written word and the word spoken on stage.
Rather than searching for the "right" translation, the session invites the audience to discover how each era finds its own way of hearing Shakespeare. It also shows how a play written more than four hundred years ago keeps changing every time it is translated, read or performed.
The session takes place in the auditorium of the Centro Cultural de Cascais. It is designed for secondary and vocational school students, particularly literature, English, drama and culture groups.
Admission is free, but prior registration is required by 2 November.
Organised by Câmara Municipal de Cascais and the Fundação D. Luís I.
Free admission, prior registration required by 2 November.
Register using the online form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/97ALKYm1JE
For information and registration: envolvete@fdl.pt
