Translating for the stage means being torn between remaining faithful to the author’s intentions and providing a version of the text which takes into account a range of other factors. The original message, with its cultural references, must be communicated to the audience, but the transfer of non-semantic aspects of the ST, as well as some extra-textual aspects, is of vital importance to successful adaptation. These factors must all be taken into consideration in libretto adaptation, but in addition, the special nature of opera imposes musical restrictions on the text, as the music cannot be changed and dictates, to a certain degree, which words can be used. Despite surtitling having been in existence for over two decades, some opera houses decide to adapt libretti for live performances in certain cases. Drawing from her own experience of writing the French version of Albert Herring, a comic chamber opera by Benjamin Britten, the author discusses the problems encountered in translation work of this kind. Three orders of difficulty are identified relating to cultural equivalence, humour and rhyming.