New Chairman and Vice Chairman of ESFN

photo: Dawid Linkowski
The ESFN is pleased to announce the following elections : Philip Parr – co-director of the York International Shakespeare Festival (UK) as Chairman and Vlad Dragulescu – artistic director of the Craiova Shakespeare Festival (Romania) as Vice Chairman.
The ESFN (European Shakespeare Festivals Network is now 10 years old and brings together the key festivals across Europe who present Shakespeare from an international perspective.
These leadership positions became vacant following the untimely passing of Founding Network Chairman Prof. Jerzy Limon, Director of the Gdansk Shakespeare Festival (Poland), and the progression to an emeritus role of Vice Chairman Emil Boroghina, founder of the Craiova Shakespeare Festival.
Working together, Philip Parr and Vlad Dragulescu are enthusiastic to develop new initiatives that bring together the partner festivals through empowering emerging artists, and which extend the reach of Shakespeare as one of the world’s preeminent playwrights, through international collaborations and shared projects.
Accepting the new role, Philip Parr said, “Shakespeare’s plays transcend time and place – they speak for voices that were marginalised in Shakespeare’s time, and they carry messages which we all need to remember today. It is our responsibility as international festival directors to make sure that those voices messages don’t go unheard
Both Vlad and I are both immensely grateful for the possibilities that Shakespeare has brought to our careers, and we are excited to lead this new chapter in the history of our network.”
For further information, or interviews, contact Joanna Snieżko-Misterek, Executive Director of the ESFN Joanna.sniezko@esfn.eu