English

A comedy by Jean-Pierre Martinez

Translation by the author

You all know that famous website facilitating the reunion with long-lost schoolmates… Unfortunately, nostalgia nights can also turn into nightmares. Having invited over to his place two of his “best buddies” from high school whom he hasn’t seen since graduation, a friendly loser triggers their unexpected reunion with a girl who has some unresolved issues with them…

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A comedy by Jean-Pierre Martinez

Translation by the author

Laziness, greed, envy, lust, pride, anger, intemperance… How, over the course of a single evening, without even leaving one’s home, to commit the seven deadly sins… without ending up in hell

This text is available to read for free. However, an authorization is required from the author prior to any public performance, whether by professional or amateur companies. To get in touch with Jean-Pierre Martinez and ask an authorization to represent one of his works CONTACT FORM

A comedy by Jean-Pierre Martinez

English translation by the author

9, 10 or 11 characters (males and/or females)

For 9 actors: 5M/4F or 5M/5F
For 10 actors: 6M/4F or 5M/5F or 4M/6F
For 11 actors: 7M/4F or 6M/5F or 5M/6F or 4M/7F

Kimberley inherits her grandmother’s renowned cookie recipe. On Christmas Eve, alongside her best friend Jennifer, Kimberley is on the verge of launching a tearoom at the base of the building where Granny Maggie lived. This endeavour is deeply meaningful to her, and she has poured all her savings into it. However, a ruthless real estate developer is determined to acquire her shop, demolish the building, and replace it with a luxury residence. Can Kimberley overcome these challenges and finally find love? A true Christmas movie plot… but worse.

This text is available to read for free. However, an authorisation is required from the author prior to any public performance, whether by professional or amateur companies. To get in touch with Jean-Pierre Martinez and ask an authorisation to represent one of his works CONTACT FORM

A comedy by Jean-Pierre Martinez

Translation by the author

3 characters : 2 men and 1 woman

Peter, a dedicated researcher, stumbles upon the formula for eternal life. Faced with the potential unforeseen consequences, he contemplates keeping the discovery a secret. Yet, his wife, longing for perpetual youth, and her lover, desiring immortality, are unwilling to make such a sacrifice.

This text is available to read for free. However, an authorization is required from the author prior to any public performance, whether by professional or amateur companies. To get in touch with Jean-Pierre Martinez and ask an authorization to represent one of his works CONTACT FORM

A comedy by Jean-Pierre Martinez

Translation by the author

Lying on a hospital bed, a man, having lost his memory due to a life-saving surgery, encounters a parade of the women from his past whom he can no longer remember. Could one of them be the love of his life?

This text is available to read for free. However, an authorization is required from the author prior to any public performance, whether by professional or amateur companies. To get in touch with Jean-Pierre Martinez and ask an authorization to represent one of his works CONTACT FORM

How could cigarettes that make you laugh not be a comedic argument? A ‘soft’ drug, yet still prohibited in many countries, including France, cannabis is emblematic of a certain social hypocrisy: parents fear their children will use it, even though they used it themselves at their age or occasionally still do so in secret. Times are changing, though; today, it’s the parents who hide to smoke.

Bed and Breakfast

Miracle at Saint Mary Juana Abbey

Who could have believed just a few years ago that we would come to this point, and so quickly? The entirely unprecedented situation in which we have all been immersed for many months leads us to reflect more broadly on the world in which we live, on the political class that governs us, and, since democracy has not yet entirely succumbed to the security virus, on our own responsibility for having brought them to power and keeping them there.

Can we truly rely entirely on absurd governors and administrations to lead our fear-stricken society toward healing? This health crisis has undoubtedly raised, above all, questions about the limits of the principle of delegation of power in our democracy. In the United States as in France, entrusting one’s destiny once every four or five years to a King Ubu, is that really what democracy is?

Far from all conspiracy theories, which ultimately only serve to reinforce the engaged citizen that we should be in a passive spectator role, these four pieces primarily aim to open a debate, always with a touch of humor. The role of the theater is to ask the right questions, not to provide answers that each person should find for themselves, before attempting to implement them together.

Quarantine
Check to the kings
Is there an author in the audience?

Out of self-deprecation, it sometimes happens that the author portrays themselves on stage in a comedy with themes such as the absurdities of the writer’s profession, the lack of inspiration, or even plagiarism. Having been a victim of plagiarism himself multiple times, Jean-Pierre Martinez is well-versed in the subject.

Running on empty
The Joker
Cheaters

If attachment to one’s cultural heritage can contribute to the definition of a personal identity, unconditional allegiance to any religion, voluntary submission to arbitrary traditions, the deadly pursuit of conformity to a norm, and blind identification with an ethnically pure but largely fantastical group are the starting points for the worst forms of identity extremism. Knowing where you come from to understand where you are going, yes. However, when the tyranny of one’s origin leads to a cult of the past, community isolation, and sectarian fanaticism, this obsessive focus on identity becomes a destructive process that can only result in self-annihilation through the annihilation of others.

To borrow a phrase from Georges Brassens, it is the moral duty of the humorist to mock “the blissful fools who were born somewhere.”

Today, the widespread availability of new genetic ancestry analysis technologies to the public can provide material for many comedies, especially when these DNA tests reveal unexpected connections.

Family Tree

Political theater can hardly rival the tragicomedy of power as it is daily portrayed, much like a serial, in the news broadcasts. In this realm, reality often surpasses fiction. But one can always attempt…

It is essential to acknowledge, moreover, that the foibles of the presumed elites who govern us and the excesses of power, especially when it is absolute, are inherently universal in that they are intrinsically linked to the weaknesses and flaws of human nature in general. While Jean-Pierre Martinez’s political comedies are most often inspired by the specifically French context, they often resonate with the unique situations of many other geographical areas. This is why they enjoy great success worldwide, as in each country, citizens recognize in these palace intrigues, autocratic abuses, or widespread corruption the characteristics of their own social and political environment.