Shakespeare Night Presents: Finish Bérénice by Racine

THIS READING
We will finish reading Racine's Bérénice in English. We will start with Act IV, Scene 5.

You may bring any translation. I have John Masefields. Amazon has a 99¢ Kindle translation by Robert Bruce Boswell,

• Plot summary, from Wikipedia:
  Because Titus' father, Vespasian, has died, everyone assumes that Titus will now be free to marry his beloved Bérénice, the queen of Palestine. Madly in love with Bérénice, Antiochus plans to flee Rome rather than face her marriage with his friend Titus. However, Titus has been listening to public opinion about the prospects of his marriage with a foreign queen, and the Romans find this match undesirable. Titus chooses his duty to Rome over his love for Bérénice and sends Antiochus to tell Bérénice the news. Knowing that Antiochus is Titus' rival, Bérénice refuses to believe Antiochus. However, Titus confirms that he will not marry her. Titus begs her to stay but she refuses both Antiochus and Titus. She and Antiochus leave Rome separately, and Titus remains behind to rule his empire.

IF YOU ARE NEW...
At these Zoom meetings, we take turns reading aloud, paragraph by paragraph if it's a prose work, speech by speech if it's a play. (That is, we don't assign parts.) If it's a poem, we make a decision based on the poetic form.

If you have not read with us before, RSVP on the Meetup.com page and click that you will attend online. Then please log into the zoom call by 7. If you are not on the RSVP list or you arrive too late, you will not be allowed in.

CURRENT SHAKESPEARE-NIGHT SCHEDULE
We generally read one work on the first and third Mondays and another work on the second and fourth Mondays.

• On the first and third Mondays of each month, Tom Frenkel will host.
• On the second and fourth Mondays of each month, Peter Shenkin will host.
• On the fifth Monday of a month (if there is one), we sometimes hold an "open mic", where participants are encouraged to sing a song, tell a joke, read a poem, or whatever. Sometimes we continue reading a work. And sometimes we take a vacation.

GENERAL INFORMATION
If you RSVP "Yes" to a Meetup, the Zoom link will be visible on the meetup.com event page.

We often have an informal discussion preceding and following the reading.

FUTURE READINGS

• 1st and 3rd Mondays: TBD
• 2nd and 4th Mondays: TBD
• 5th Mondays: Next is Dec 29, 2025. TBD.