John Kenneth Tyrrell McLeish, known as Kenneth McLeish (1940–1997) was a British writer, playwright and translator. McLeish, "the most widely respected and prolific translator of drama in Britain", translated all the surviving classical Greek plays, most plays by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

and

Georges Feydeau Georges-Léon-Jules-Marie Feydeau (; 8 December 1862 – 5 June 1921) was a French playwright of the Belle Époque era, remembered for his farces, written between 1886 and 1914. Feydeau was born in Paris to middle-class parents and raised in a ...

, and individual plays by

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; ; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French Artistic symbol, symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896)'','' often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealism, Surrealist, and Futurism, Futurist ...

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

Ödön von Horváth Edmund Josef von Horváth (9 December 1901 – 1 June 1938) was an Austro-Hungarian playwright and novelist who wrote in German, and went by the ''nom de plume'' Ödön von Horváth (). He was one of the most critically admired writers of his g ...

and

Eugène Marin Labiche Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".Stephen Unwin
Obituary: Kenneth McLeish
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 11 December 1997.

Life

McLeish was born in Glasgow on 10 October 1940. He was educated at

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational private day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination. For the sixth form admission is based on GCSE results. The school gives means-tested ...

, where he learnt French,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

. He taught himself Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. He studied Music and Classics at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

before becoming a teacher. He married Valerie Heath in 1965. In 1975 he gave up teaching to write and translate full-time. McLeish's translations were staged by companies including the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

the National Theatre, the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochla ...

Cheek by Jowl Cheek by Jowl is an international theatre company founded in the United Kingdom by director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod in 1981. Donnellan and Ormerod are Cheek by Jowl's artistic directors and together direct and design all of ...

and Actors Touring Company. Successful productions included

Deborah Warner Deborah Warner (born 12 May 1959) is a British director of theatre and opera, known for her interpretations of the works of Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Benjamin Britten, and Henrik Ibsen, and for her collaborations with Irish actress Fiona ...

's 1988 ''

Electra Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...

'' for the RSC,

Katie Mitchell Katrina Jane Mitchell (born 23 September 1964) is an English theatre director. Life and career Mitchell was born in Reading, Berkshire, raised in Hermitage, Berkshire, and educated at Oakham School. Upon leaving Oakham, she went up to Mag ...

's 1991 '' Women of Troy'' at the Gate, and Stephen Unwin's' 1996 ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage.Meyer, Michael Lever ...

'' for

English Touring Theatre English Touring Theatre (ETT) is a major touring theatre company based in London, England. History English Touring Theatre was founded in 1993 by Stephen Unwin. In 2008, the directorship of the company was taken over by Rachel Tackley, making E ...

. He wrote several original plays and filmscripts, including ''Vice at the Vicarage'' (1978) for

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of a soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

and ''Orpheus'' (1997) for Actors Touring Company. He also wrote and edited a variety of general literary guides, several in collaboration with his wife.

Works

* (trans. and compiled with Roger Nichols) ''Through Greek eyes: Greek civilisation in the words of Greek writers'', 1974 * (trans. and compiled with Roger Nichols) ''Through Roman eyes: Greek civilisation in the words of Roman writers'', 1976 * (trans. with

Frederic Raphael Frederic Michael Raphael Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (born 14 August 1931) is an American-born British novelist, biographer, journalist and Academy Awards, Oscar-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for Darling (1965 fi ...

) ''The serpent son = Oresteia'' by Aeschylus. 1978. * (trans. with Frederic Raphael) ''The poems of Catullus'' by

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

. 1978. * (trans.) ''Clouds; Women in power; Knights'' by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

. 1979. * (compiled with Frederic Raphael) ''The list of books'', 1980 * ''The theatre of Aristophanes'', 1980 * ''The shining stars: Greek legends of the zodiac'', 1981 * (with

Brian Redhead Brian Leonard Redhead (28 December 1929 – 23 January 1994) was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. He was a co-presenter of the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 from 1975 until 1993, shortly before his death. He was a great love ...

) ''The Anti-Booklist'', 1981Brian Redhead with Kenneth McLeish (eds.), ''The Anti-Booklist''. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1981. * (with John Bailey and David Spearman) ''Gods and men: myths and legends from the world's religions'', 1981 * (with Valerie Heath) ''The Oxford first companion to music'', 1982 * ''The Penguin companion to the arts in the twentieth century'', 1985 * ''Longman guide to Shakespeare's characters: a who's who of Shakespeare'', 1985 * ''The Seven Wonders of the World'', 1985 * (with Valerie Heath) ''Listeners' guide to classical music: an introduction to the great classical composers and their works'', 1986 * (with Valerie Heath) ''Longman guide to Bible quotations'', 1986 * ''Bloomsbury good reading guide'', 1988 * (with Valerie Heath) ''Bloomsbury good reading guide to murder, crime fiction, and thrillers'', 1990 * (with Valerie Heath) ''Bloomsbury good reading guide to biography & autobiography'', 1991 * ''Key ideas in human thought'', 1993 * ''Myth: myths and legends of the world explored'', 1996 * ''Aristotle'', 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLeish, Kenneth 1940 births 1997 deaths British writers British dramatists and playwrights Greek–English translators Latin–English translators French–English translators Swedish–English translators Norwegian–English translators 20th-century British translators People educated at Bradford Grammar School