Since autumn we have been planning for this year’s Shakespeare festival. The planning has taken so many different forms, with so many details, that I often worried that something would fall apart. But these things tend to come together, and now we have a beautiful day ahead. I can’t wait to see it unfold. My students have done a remarkable job figuring out and preparing their “Othello Interrupted” performance (of which I’ll have much more to say later), and groups are coming from Szolnok, Debrecen, Tiszafüred, Sárospatak, and Tiszasüly. Our afternoon program is rich too, with a lecture, workshops, and a closing ceremony.
As it turns out, after the festival, I will have plenty of time to go to Budapest for Platon Karataev’s Napkötöző record release concert at the Müpa. I got the ticket long in advance (the concert is sold out), and I can even take the 5:28 train there and then take a cab to the venue. This will be a wonderful celebration.
Tomorrow I had wanted to go hear Idea and the Roving Chess Club, but I badly need a day at home for rest, reflection, thinking back on the festival, perusing Literary Matters and Asymptote (where my first two essays on Cseh and Bereményi appeared this week), and listening to Napkötöző as soon as it’s out. On Sunday I will be going in to Budapest for a series of literary and musical events at the Akvárium; on Monday evening I will return to Budapest for Pesach, then on Wednesday for a Cseh event at the Petőfi Literary Museum, with János Másik as special guest, then on Saturday for a special dance performance.
But first: the festival!
Take Away the Takeaway 