Sidewalk Chronicles
A sketch comedy by Jean-Pierre Martinez
English translation by the author
Many different characters (males or females)
On the sidewalk of a street, strange stories unfold…
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
| DOWNLOAD PDF FOR FREE |
|
|
The Pavement, an Open Stage for Social Comedy
On the same stretch of pavement, passers-by, schoolgirls, sex workers, homeless people, protesters, street sweepers, and even a banker and his cleaner cross paths. Across fourteen sketches, each encounter begins with an ordinary situation before tipping into misunderstanding, reversal or absurdity. The single setting and flexible casting thus turn the street into an open stage on which an entire human comedy passes by.
The scenes remain self-contained, but certain places, numbers and characters reappear discreetly. The fortune teller, the lottery, the number 13 and lost property create an underlying continuity between stories that initially seem unrelated. This construction gives the collection the unity of an imaginary neighbourhood, populated by people who live side by side without always recognising one another. The fact that the same actor can play several roles reinforces this sense of a constantly changing humanity in which the same patterns of behaviour keep resurfacing.
Much of the comedy is driven by language. Expressions such as “man in the street”, “to be on the street”, “sweep your own doorstep” or “go to the end of the street” are taken literally and become the starting point for reasoning that is perfectly logical but pushed to the point of absurdity. These verbal games are accompanied by constant reversals: adults become children’s pets, a bankrupt financial adviser tries to sell a new business venture to one of his former victims, while protesters themselves no longer know what cause they are defending.
Beneath the fantasy lies a darker social satire. The pavement theoretically belongs to everyone, but not everyone occupies the same place on it: the wealthy indulge in nostalgia without noticing the homeless person beside them, the banker uses the economic crisis as an excuse to exploit his cleaner even further, and the excluded gradually become invisible. The final sketch gives this disappearance a literal form by bringing together characters whom no one can see, hear or smell. The street then becomes a metaphor for the social world, but also for theatre itself: a place where to exist means, first and foremost, managing to be seen and heard.
Sidewalk Chronicles Lire la suite »
