{"id":110816,"date":"2017-11-01T18:15:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T22:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=110816"},"modified":"2018-01-15T16:51:50","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T21:51:50","slug":"look-what-we-found-katalin-vecseys-portrait-of-a-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2017\/11\/01\/look-what-we-found-katalin-vecseys-portrait-of-a-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"Look What We Found: Katalin Vecsey’s portrait of a queen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theater students call her \u201cthe queen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The royal in question is Katalin Vecsey, senior lecturer in theater, and because she\u2019s the queen, she naturally has a framed oil portrait of herself looking very queenly hanging in her second-floor office above Schaeffer Theatre.<\/p>\n

Painted by Singha Hon \u201914, a double major in theater and art and visual culture, the portrait was a surprise birthday gift from the Robinson Players, the student theater troupe that Vecsey advises, which threw in a second present: a sign that reads, \u201cIt ain\u2019t easy being queen.\u201d
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Vecsey, who is also the vocal director for Bates theatrical productions, stashed the painting at home but a friend recently suggested that she frame it and hang it in her office for others to enjoy. That made practical sense. But another sense \u2014 modesty \u2014 prompted Vecsey to place the artwork behind her office door \u201cso it\u2019s not so obvious to everyone who comes in that I think of myself as a queen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The painting includes a fur stole \u2014 \u201cI don\u2019t wear fur, but I guess a queen has<\/em> to\u201d \u2014 and a signature Vecsey necklace made of surgical steel, representative of her taste in \u201ccrazy\u201d jewelry.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I look at it, I smile and think of how much I enjoy the work that I do with the Robinson Players,\u201d Vecsey says, noting Hon\u2019s artistic skill to make sure that \u201cthe crown doesn\u2019t look like it came from Burger King.\u201d<\/p>\n

The admiration is mutual. The acknowledgments in a Robinson Players\u2019 program always include \u201ca very special thanks to Kati Vecsey, our unbelievably dedicated faculty adviser for her unending commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each year, the Robinson Players votes in a faculty adviser, and each year the organization\u2019s board of directors and members choose Vecsey. At some point, she says, they changed the ballot to read \u201cQueen of the Robinson Players.\u201d Like any good monarch, Vecsey figures that \u201cI\u2019m going to die out instead of passing it to somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Why do they call her the Queen? Perhaps because she sounds the part, with a distinctive Hungarian accent that, thanks to old Hollywood films, tells us she should belong to the aristocracy.<\/p>\n

Vecsey\u2019s is a benevolent, yet activist monarchy. She advises the troupe on its play choices, and they turn to her for advice during dress rehearsals. \u201cIt\u2019s a very honorable position. The students trust me with my criticism, with my reviews of the play,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople feel very vulnerable showing their art, and I feel very privileged that they choose me every year to be that special person who provides critical feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, Vecsey\u2019s portrait occupies very little real estate in the curio shop that is her office, which is filled with books, papers, and objects from years of theater, scholarship, and teaching.<\/p>\n

But with a collector\u2019s passion, she concludes, \u201cI come into my office, I look at lots of stuff that I\u2019ve done, and it makes me feel good.\u201d What more could a queen ask for?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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