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" - Summary by (The Translator)
Cast list:
Dandin, a judge: Alan Mapstone
Leander, son of Dandin: Adrian Stephens
Chicaneau, a citizen: Mike Manolakes
Isabelle, daughter of Chicaneau: Hanna Ponomarenko
The Countess: Sonia
Petit-Jean, a house porter: ToddHW
L'Intimé, a clerk: Greg Giordano
The Prompter: David Purdy
Stage Directions: Son of the Exiles
Editing: ToddHW
Chapters
From LibriVox, read by volunteers and in the public domain. LibriVox page (opens librivox.org), the text (opens archive.org), all files on the Internet Archive (opens archive.org).