UPCOMING EVENTS

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• LA241 Living Room Players: Major Barbara, by George Bernard Shaw

  • When
    24 Apr 2025
  •  
    2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    A member's apartment in the Marais
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw is a satirical play that explores themes of morality, wealth, and social responsibility. It critically examines the relationship between morality and capitalism, leaving the audience to ponder whether wealth and ethics can coexist.
  The story follows Barbara Undershaft, a devoted Salvation Army officer who seeks to uplift the poor through charity and faith. Her estranged father, Andrew Undershaft, is a wealthy and pragmatic arms manufacturer who argues that poverty is best solved through power and industry. As Barbara grapples with the implications of her father’s philosophy, she ultimately reevaluates her beliefs, questioning the true sources of societal change. 

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  The general concept of WICE play readings is that people are sent the script a few days beforehand, and when they arrive they pull straws for roles. Attendees sit around a living room and simply read their parts with as much theatrical flourish as they care to give (but there are no expectations of real acting).
  

  The reading will take place at a member's apartment in the Marais. The address, door code, and phone number will be sent in the two reminder emails.

  
  

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• LA251 Café Littéraire: "La Familia Grande," by Camile Kouchner

  • When
    25 Apr 2025
  •  
    3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    Location provided in the 1-day reminder email
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  In La Familia Grande, Camille Kouchner delivers a powerful and deeply personal memoir that shook France to its core. The book recounts the hidden trauma within her prominent intellectual family when she reveals that her twin brother was sexually abused by their stepfather, Olivier Duhamel—a well-known academic and public figure. Set against the backdrop of elite Parisian society in the late 20th century, Kouchner exposes the silence, denial, and complicity that allowed such abuse to continue unspoken for decades.

  What makes this memoir so compelling is not only the harrowing subject matter but the emotional nuance Kouchner brings as she wrestles with loyalty, guilt, and the crushing weight of long-held family secrets. Her courageous decision to speak out helped spark a national reckoning in France about incest and child abuse, often taboo topics even in progressive circles.

  La Familia Grande is more than a personal exposé—it’s a searing critique of societal denial and a call for accountability, justice, and the power of truth-telling. For book groups, it offers rich material for discussion on family dynamics, moral courage, and the challenges of confronting painful truths in close-knit communities.

  The discussion will be in English.

  
  

  
  

  The May meeting will be held at a member's apartment near Place de la République. The address, door code, phone number, etc., will be send in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• LY221 Living Room Players: The School for Wives, by Molière

  • When
    22 May 2025
  •  
    2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    A member's apartment in the Marais
  • Spaces left
    8

  The School for Wives is a satirical comedy that explores gender roles, control, and the follies of obsessive guardianship. The story centers on Arnolphe, a wealthy, middle-aged man who believes that ignorance ensures fidelity. To create the perfect, obedient wife, he raises a young girl, Agnès, in seclusion, shielding her from the world. However, his plans unravel when Agnès falls in love with Horace, a young suitor who unknowingly shares his romantic successes with Arnolphe himself. The play critiques misogyny and authoritarianism with wit and irony, ultimately exposing the absurdity of trying to control love and human nature.

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  The general concept of WICE play readings is that people receive the script by email about a week before the reading, and then pull straws for roles at the meeting. Attendees sit around a living room and simply read their parts with as much theatrical flourish as they care to give (but there are no expectations of real acting).
  

  The reading will take place at a member's apartment in the Marais. The address, door code, and phone number will be sent in the two reminder emails.

  
  

  Show details
• LY231 Café Littéraire: "No Exit," by Jean-Paul Sartre

  • When
    23 May 2025
  •  
    3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    Location provided in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails
  • Spaces left
    8

  

  Jean-Paul Sartre’s "No Exit" is a one-act play that explores themes of self-deception, freedom, and the nature of hell.

  The story centers on three characters—Garcin, Inez, and Estelle—who find themselves locked together in a Second Empire-style room in the afterlife. Expecting traditional torture, they soon realize their punishment is psychological: they are each other’s tormentors. As they reveal their pasts and motivations, it becomes clear that their eternal suffering stems from their inability to escape the judgments of others and their refusal to confront their own self-deceptions.

  Sartre uses this scenario to dramatize his existentialist idea that “hell is other people” (l’enfer, c’est les autres). The characters are trapped not by fire and brimstone, but by their own need for validation and their refusal to take responsibility for their freedom and choices. No Exit ultimately presents a stark vision of self-imposed psychological imprisonment.

  
  

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  The book group normally meets at the organizer's apartment. The directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent following registration in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails.
  

  Registration for the May meeting opens on 26 April 2025.
  

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• BA031 Exploring French History through Novels

  • When
    05 Jun 2025
  •  
    2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
  • Location
    Le Nelson's Café, 16 rue de Coquillière, 75001 Paris

  Register

  Free for WICE members! Come with us on a captivating journey where literature and history intertwine to offer a uniquely vivid perspective on France's past. You’ll plunge into a vibrant tapestry of pivotal events, cultural shifts, and influential figures…while falling under the spell of some of France’s best historical novelists.  And then the discussion begins!

  Our meetings take place in French so you'll enhance your understanding of the past while simultaneously improving your French reading, comprehension, and speaking skills in a friendly convivial group.

  Group facilitator: Claudia Oudet, French teacher, editor, and translator, will offer linguistic help and literary/historical insights.

  We'll meet in person at Le Nelson's Café,

  16 rue Coquillière, 75001 Paris

  Métro : Lignes 1/4/7/11/14 RER A/B/D Châtelet Les Halles 
  Bus : 74 – 85 : Louvre – Etienne Marcel / Bourse du commerce

  
  

  Préparez-vous à discuter:

  "Les Rois maudits, tome 2: La Reine Étranglée" est le deuxième volume de la série historique de Maurice Druon, qui retrace les événements du XIVe siècle en France. Ce tome commence au lendemain même de la mort de Philippe le Bel. Tandis que la Chrétienté attend un pape et que le people meurt de faim, les rivalités, les intrigues, les complots vont déchirer la cour de France et conduire barons, prélats, banquiers, et le roi lui-même, au fond d'une impasse dont ils ne pourront sortir que par le crime. Cette série est reconnue pour sa richesse historique et ses intrigues complexes, offrant une immersion profonde dans les luttes de pouvoir de l'époque médiévale.

  Come prepared to discuss:

  “Les Rois maudits, tome 2: La Reine Étranglée” is the second volume in Maurice Druon's historical series, retracing the events of 14th-century France. This tome begins on the very day after the death of Philip the Fair. While Christendom waits for a pope and the people starve, rivalries, intrigues, and plots tear the French court apart, driving barons, prelates, bankers and the king himself to the depths of an impasse that can only be resolved by crime. The series is renowned for its rich history and complex plots, offering a deep immersion in the power struggles of the medieval era.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• LU271 Café Littéraire Book Group

  • When
    27 Jun 2025
  •  
    3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    To be announced
  • Spaces left
    9

  

  A book has not been chosen yet for the June meeting. It will, however,  be an award-winning book that was originally published in French and is available in English translation.

  The group discusses the book in English.

  The book group normally meets at the organizer's apartment. The directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent following registration.

  Registration for the June meeting opens on 23 May 2025.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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