Gyula Shakespeare Festival
The Gyula Shakespeare Festival is an international festival held in Gyula, Hungary, every year for about one to two weeks. It has been running since 2005.
Who runs it
- The festival was led by József Gedeon from 2005 to 2016. He was also the Castle Theatre’s manager and a founder of many art groups. He loved theatre from a young age.
- After Gedeon, Tibor Elek became the main organizer and artistic director in 2017, continuing the festival’s work. Marianna Varga led the festival in 2016–2017.
- The goal is to create a prestigious, international Shakespeare festival in Hungary, bringing major productions from Hungary and abroad.
What the festival offers
- The main program usually includes one Hungarian production and two international productions.
- There are many side programs: renaissance and jazz concerts, dance, other theatre, film screenings, Shakespeare conferences, and even food events.
- Shows are staged in various places around Gyula, especially the castle courtyard and the lake stage.
- Each year, there is at least one new production from Gyula.
A quick look at the festival over the years
- 2005: The first festival. The main show was wwW.Shakespeare.hu, plus Shakespeare sonnets reading, and the Othello adaptation from Sfântu Gheorghe. Side events included concerts and a conference on translating Shakespeare.
- 2006: Focus on major Hamlet adaptations by foreign directors, plus a Hamlet by Tim Carroll. Side performances included a Macbeth dance and a concert.
- 2007–2008: The festival opened with King Lear and featured workshops, costume exhibitions, films, and outside Shakespearean performances, including Romeo and Juliet on the lake stage.
- 2009–2010: Highlights included Love is My Sin (Shakespeare’s sonnets performed by famous actors) and several notable Hamlet and King Lear pieces, plus one-person shows by Shakespeare performers.
- 2011–2012: Big productions of Troilus and Cressida, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; including Korean and other international performances; music concerts and dance.
- 2013–2014: Hamlet-focused years with new Hamlet stagings, Taming of the Shrew, Measure for Measure, and a Shakespeare-reading event; photo exhibit and music concerts.
- 2015: Focus on Richard III, including a Chinese production, plus Othello and Romeo and Juliet dance pieces; conferences about Shakespeare.
- 2016: The festival’s “adolescence” year, with younger audiences in mind. Highlights included Richard III, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, and As You Like It, plus a conference “Shakespeare is Sitting.”
- 2017: A dance version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream opened the festival; an Israel King Lear production stood out; other notable shows included Richard III and Comedy of Errors; a project called Shakespeare, Sonnet 66.
- 2018: The festival focused on Hamlet adaptations. It opened with a Hamlet-related photo exhibit and closed with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. There was a Hamlet monodrama, and a performance by Teatro Potlach on the lake stage; some events were held in Budapest for accessibility. Special guests included the Tiger Lillies.
- 2019: Nicknamed “Cheerful Shakespeare,” the festival focused on comedies, presenting up to four comedies on stage, including Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Tempest. There were discussions about translating tricky scenes and themes of sexuality.
- 2020: The festival faced the COVID-19 pandemic and had a shorter program. It still offered several productions in July and August, including a lake-stage Comedy of Errors adaptation that incorporated a pop song, a musical project with Renaissance music, and a Desdemonium performance focusing on Desdemona. The organizers called it “version C of plan D.”
Overall
- The Gyula Shakespeare Festival brings high-quality, international Shakespeare theatre to Hungary each year, along with music, dance, film, talks, and food events. It helps connect Gyula to the wider world of theatre and Shakespeare.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:35 (CET).