The Litigants by Jean Racine (1639 - 1699). Translated by Robert Bruce Boswell (1864 - 1933)
This play, which is neither a comedy or a farce but has elements in common with each, was first performed in 1668 at Paris, and afterwards at Versailles. It is a French adaptation of "The Wasps" of Aristophanes. Racine's own experience of law and lawyers was derived from the suit in which he had been involved about the Priory of Epernay, during the course of which he picked up a number of barbarous terms "which," to quote his own words, "neither my judges nor I ever properly understood"
( (The Translator))
After all that blood and tragedy, Racine must have need a break after Andromache. This is his only comedy, if law and lawyers can be made funny....
Kitty will be typecast as The Countess; speak kindly and she may deign to pay attention to DPL'ing the lines of all us little people.
Gender neutral, of course.
Is there a deadline?
We ask that you submit your recorded sections within 1-2 months of placing your claim. Please note that to be fair to the readers who have completed their sections in a timely way, if you haven't submitted your recording(s) after two months, your sections will automatically be re-opened for other readers to claim, unless you post in this thread to request an extension. Extensions will be granted at the discretion of the Book Coordinator. If you cannot do your section, for whatever reason, just let me know and it'll go back to the pool. There's no shame in this; we're all volunteers and things happen. Please do not sign up for more sections than you can complete within the two month deadline.
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To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are "up for grabs." Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you would like to read (include the section number from the left-most column in the reader list, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.
Please claim roles (the numbers in the first column below)! Please note: All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. When you submit your recording, you will be placing your recording in the public domain as well.
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Magic Window:
BC Admin
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This paragraph is temporary and will be replaced by the MC with the list of sections and reader (Magic Window) once this project is in the admin system.
Set your recording software to:
Channels: 1 (Mono)
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
Submit one file per act.
Make sure you add this to the beginning of your recording: [Role], read by [your name].
If you are reading stage directions, please include for each file:At the beginning: Act [#] of The Litigants by Jean Racine. Translated by Robert Bruce Boswell (1864 - 1933) This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit Librivox dot org.
At the end: End of Act [#]. At end of last act of the play, add: "End of The Litigants by Jean Racine. Translated by Robert Bruce Boswell"
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AFTER recording Save files as 128 kbps MP3
litigants_[role]_[#]_128kb.mp3 (all lower-case) where ## is the act number.
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alanmapstone wrote: ↑August 17th, 2020, 12:06 pmMay I read Dandin?
aha our judge has arrived, yes you may, Alan
I am really curious about this play, I only know Racine's tragedies. I hope he is any good in jokes and witticism there's probably a reason why he discontinued writing comedies after this one
Checking in as DPL and yes...maybe a countess would suit me. Maybe I can try to make her silly...
Sonia
I will be on vacation from Wednesday 27 March till Sunday 14 April
and unable to PL during that time. Thank you for your patience.
alanmapstone wrote: ↑August 17th, 2020, 12:06 pmMay I read Dandin?
I am really curious about this play, I only know Racine's tragedies. I hope he is any good in jokes and witticism there's probably a reason why he discontinued writing comedies after this one
Hi Sonia
Like you I am surprised to find Racine writing a comedy, but I see it is based on Aristophanes so perhaps it is part of Racine's idea that he was continuing the tradition of Classical Drama with tragedies like Andromache based on Classical Greek models and his conformity to the classical rules on the Unities of Time and Space.
Alan the sixth age shifts into the slippered pantaloon with spectacles on nose