Bérénice de Molière

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Bérénice de Molière is a play by Igor Bauersima and Réjane Desvignes . It is a comedy that is characterized by rapid scene changes and verbal battles between the actors. Another story is embedded in the actual plot, namely that of Titus and Berenice .

characters

action

Paris in 1670: the actress Marquise Duchamps left the Molières drama company to join the Racines. As a result, her personal preferences have shifted from Molière to Racine. She has had enough of comedies (and therefore Molière) and wants to dedicate herself to tragedy in the future. The cynical, witty and now jealous Molière forges a plan. He persuades the Princesse d'Angleterre, the king's sister-in-law and patron of the arts at the French court, to stage a poetry contest between the aspiring young Racine and the older, well-known Corneille, in which both, without knowing it, write a play about the Roman emperor Titus and his relationship with the Jewish Queen Berenice should write. The Princesse d'Angleterre, always looking for variety, is enthusiastic about the idea. Molière's intentions, however, are less about cultural exchange, but rather that he hopes that Corneille's version will be far superior to that of the young Racine, that Racine will be humiliated and that the Marquise will return to him ruefully.

Molière now persuades the somewhat melancholy and tired of work Corneille to write such a piece, while the Princesse d'Angleterre visits Racine and convinces him of the theme of the piece. Both poets immediately begin to write. However, while Molière tries to persuade Corneille to write a tragedy, Corneille prefers to turn the material into a comedy. Conversely, Racine for his part sees the tragedy of the story and writes a tragedy in which the Marquise Duchamps is to play the leading role.

When Racine and Corneille meet by chance, Molière can only prevent Racine and Corneille from telling each other about their pieces by pretending to be weak.

Something is also happening between people. The marquise feels neglected by Racine. Some more or less accidental meetings with Molière are less fortunate. She accuses him of making fun of her and rejects him. Henriette has in the meantime fallen in love with Racine, who also seems to reciprocate her feelings.

Shortly before the pieces are performed, both poets find out about the other's piece. Molière is quickly identified as the mastermind.

Both pieces are performed. The Molières drama company will perform Corneille's play. Racine sabotages the performance as best he can. While the performance is a success, Corneille feels humiliated and ridiculed. The performance of Racine's play, however, was a triumph, not least because of the acting performance of the Marquise Duchamps. Racine is now a celebrated poet. Henriette, however, renounces mutual love for reasons of state. Racine accepts his fate and swears off love because he believes that he must lead a tragic life himself in order to be able to write tragedies.

After some effort, Molière reconciles with Corneille, Henriette goes on a European trip, Racine surrenders to his new fame and the Marquise returns to Molière, who has thus achieved his goal.

premiere

The piece premiered on February 27, 2004 at the Burgtheater in Vienna as a commissioned work . Directed by Igor Bauersima himself The staging was in 2004 in two categories for the. Nestroy Theater Prize nominated Igor Bauersima for Best Director and Igor Bauersima and Georg Lendorff for Best Art Direction .

The cast of the premiere:

backgrounds

Historical facts and fictional elements are cleverly mixed in the play. The fact is that the two poets Racine and Corneille did indeed work on the same subject: there is a drama by Racine called Bérénice and by Corneille one called Tite et Bérénice . It is also known that the two pieces were premiered in short succession. Molière's role in this matter, however, is purely fictional.

Bérénice de Molière is subtitled “1. Part of the trilogy ”, Lucie de Beaune , another play by Igor Bauersima and Réjane Desvignes, which premiered in 2005 at the Schauspielhaus Zürich , forms the“ 2. Part of the trilogy ”. The third part is still pending (as of 2020). The pieces in this trilogy are set in France in 1670.

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