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Ranjit BoltOBE (born 1959)[1] is a British playwright and translator. He was born inManchester of Anglo-Indian parents and is the nephew of playwright and screenwriterRobert Bolt.[2][3][4] His father is literary critic Sydney Bolt, author of several books includingA preface to James Joyce, and his mother has worked as a teacher of English.[4]
Bolt was educated atThe Perse School andBalliol College,Oxford. He worked as a stockbroker for eight years but "was desperate to escape, any escape route would have done, and translating turned out to be the one".[2] As well as his plays, he has published a novel in verse,Losing it[5] and a verse translation for children of the fables ofLa Fontaine,The Hare and the Tortoise. His version ofCyrano de Bergerac opened on New York at theRoundabout Theatre in September 2012, withDouglas Hodge in the title role. His adaptation ofVolpone for SirTrevor Nunn, was produced by theRoyal Shakespeare Company in the summer of 2015.
He was awarded theOBE in 2003 for services to literature.
Ranjit Bolt’s 1991 translation ofMolière’s 1664 masterpieceTartuffe into English rhyming couplets, revised for a British stage production in 2002, is noted for its bold, colloquial, and humorous approach. Bolt’s version adopts a modern, shorter comic meter—typically four beats per line—while freely expanding or contracting the original’s structure to emphasize wit and accessibility. Unlike literal translations, Bolt prioritizes comedic effect and contemporary resonance over strict fidelity to Molière’s line count or phrasing.
The 2002 revision notably abbreviates some of Cléante’s speeches (though the full texts are included in an appendix), a choice that has drawn mixed reactions.
Critics have debated whether Bolt’s approach “dumbs down” Molière’s work or revitalizes its satirical edge for modern audiences. While some argue that the translation reflects Bolt’s voice as much as Molière’s, others praise its irreverent energy and theatrical vitality. The result is a version of Tartuffe that, while not universally accepted as faithful to the original, is celebrated for its humor, verve, and appeal to contemporary audiences.
Asked about his approach to translating plays, he has said:[2]
I try to follow the rule laid down by perhaps the greatest translator of all,John Dryden, who maintained that a translator should – and I paraphrase – make the version as entertaining as possible, while at the same time remaining as faithful as possible to the spirit of the original.
In August 2014, Bolt was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter toThe Guardian opposingScottish independence in the run-up to September'sreferendum on that issue.[6]
Bolt has translated many classic plays into English, most of them into verse. Among his works are:
In 2014 he wrote an English version of the text forMozart's comic opera,The Impresario, which was given byThe Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, New Mexico in a double bill paired withIgor Stravinsky'sThe Nightingale.[7] In 2017, his Tartuffe was performed at Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario.
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