Havel at Columbia

I had a long day in New York today but I'm still antsy so I thought I'd blog a little bit. I'm also getting psyched because Josh and Ryan are driving here from Montreal to visit for the weekend.

I'm currently taking a great acting class at Columbia which involves puppets and masks. We look at and perform avant-garde works that lie between 1890-1950, which is the time period I've been most interested in focusing on.

I looked at the syllabus today and noted that some of the final plays I'll be studying this semester will be ones by Vaclav Havel. In fact, my professor is co-directing Havel's The Beggar's Opera in December.

For the unawares, Vaclav Havel has been a playwright, philosopher, essayist, human rights advocate, political prisoner and president of his country. Since leaving the presidency of the Czech Republic, he has been an active and eloquent voice for human freedom and democracy around the world.

The exciting thing is that President Vaclav Havel will take up a residency at Columbia University from October 26th to December 15th. So within those seven weeks, there's going to be a lot of commotion around campus.

Some of the significant upcoming events include a public conversation between presidents Havel, Bill Clinton and Columbia's president Lee Bollinger; Mr. Havel's delivery of the Core Lecture; and his participation in the launch event for the Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research, which will include an address by the Nigerian Nobel Prize-winner Wole Soyinka.

To underline the importance of this important literary and political figure, Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard both dedicated plays to Havel and at the same time of his Columbia residency, Untitled Theater Company #61 will be hosting a Havel Festival, the first ever complete festival of his plays. The events come in conjunction with his 70th birthday.

Please visit this website to learn more about this remarkable man: Havel at Columbia.