The Invention of Liberty; or Just Noise

An audio essay and documentary which follows a group of students from King’s College London as they translate The Manifesto of Equals (1796) by Sylvain Maréchal from one language, time and context into another, but also to the stage in the presentation of Performing Utopia. Written and produced by Patrick Bernard, it explores how politics, theatre and translation transform our understanding of the world, and reflect a desire to make words and ideas manifest. For more information visit Tenement Press who are publishing an anthology of radical translations, An Anarchist Playbook, in January 2024.

Radical Translations is an interdisciplinary project which explores the role of translation in the spread of radical, democratic ideas during and after the French Revolution. The students translated the manifesto during a series of workshops led by the poet and translator Cristina Viti.

They also interpreted and adapted the text to the stage with the help of the dramaturge Simon Hatab and the French theatre collective La Phenomena, in a dialogue with the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the philosopher Jacques Rancière, as well as the music of Mozart in The Marriage of Figaro (1786), culminating in a performance at Sands Films Studio in London.