HE ovation Rudolph Habenicht received at the conclusion of the first World Shakespeare Congress at Vancouver was well deserved. The Congress had been sponsored by Simon Fraser University, by the University of British Columbia and by the Canada Council, with encouragement from the Shakespeare Association of America, the Shakespeare Society of Japan, the Modern Humanities Research Association and the Modern Language Association of America; but without the vision, the drive and the persistence of Professor Habenicht, the international committee would not have come into being-and it remained a somewhat ghostly body-the necessary finances would not have been forthcoming, and nearly five hundred Shakespearians would not have gathered under one roof. It was particularly pleasant to see so many young scholars from all five continents. The actual arrangements for the comfort of the delegates were remarkably efficient and the organizing committee from seven Canadian universities and Professor Habenicht's team of students, to whom he paid a warm tribute, deserved the thanks of the conference. As at most conferences, some of the most valuable discussions took place between sessions, where two or three were gathered at meal-times or walking across the campus, or over a drink in the bar. Everyone will remember such occasions and the stimulus from the clash of ideas or the ring of words. There were eight main sessions at which two papers were read, followed by a discussion by panels of four. Most of these sixteen papers will be printed in the Acta of the Congress, which are being edited by Clifford Leech. The discussion was recorded with a view to its being broadcast in a condensed form. In addition to these main sessions there were four special sessions at Simon Fraser University, at each of which three papers were read. At the same time a symposium was held on Psychoanalysis and Shakespeare; then in the afternoon there was a lengthy theater colloquium; and, in the evening, for those with the requisite stamina, a choice of another eleven papers. There were meetings of six investigative committees which reported at the end of the Congress. There was a live performance of Every Man in His Humour by the University of Calgary Department of Drama; there were performances of the Marowitz perversion of Hamlet; there was even an open-air rehearsal of the murder of Desdemona, in which the Othello sometimes lapsed into Arabic; there were ten concerts of Renaissance music by the Simon Fraser University Madrigal Singers, the Vancouver Consort and other groups; and there were numerous Shakespearian movies-the Reinhardt Dream, the Kozintsev Hamlet, Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, and Richardson's Hamlet. A great deal was packed into the nine days of the Congress.