Terminus

Jean-Pierre Martinez — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 17:20:22 +0000

Ethan and Eve.
Ethan – This is it.
Eve – We’re the last ones.
Ethan – The last evening of the last day.
Eve – How much time do we have left?
Ethan – About an hour of electricity.
Eve – Then the air conditioning will stop.
Ethan – We’ll die from the heat.
Eve – We’re already dying from the heat, aren’t we?
Ethan – But now, we’ll really die…
Eve – I’m thirsty. Is there anything left to drink?
Ethan – There’s one apple left.
She takes the apple and offers it to him.
Eve – Shall we share?
Ethan – I’ll give in to temptation…
She cuts the apple in half, and they each eat their portion in silence.
Eve – Our last meal. Just the two of us.
Ethan – The last apple, from the last tree. Before the garden is consumed by the flames of hell.
Eve – We’ll savour the taste for a few minutes. And for a moment longer, the memory of this last apple, shared between you and me.
Ethan – Until even the idea of the apple, and temptation itself, vanishes with us.
Eve – And after?
Ethan – After?
Eve – There won’t be an after…
Ethan – There’ll be an after, somewhere, but without us.
Eve – So, it’s like dying. We’re not the first.
Ethan – No. We’re the last.
Eve – The last to live.
Ethan – The last to die.
Eve – And humanity dies with us.
Ethan – And after?
Eve – There won’t even be a “before.”
Ethan – No memories.
Eve – No witnesses.
Ethan – No past, no future.
Eve – Only the present.
Ethan – The world will go on without us, unthinking.
Eve – The planets will keep turning.
Ethan – This isn’t the end of the world.
Eve – Just the end of a story. Our story.
Ethan – A story that went wrong. That started well but ended badly.
Eve – When a story ends well, it’s because another one begins.
Ethan – Ours will be the last story.
Eve – There’s nothing left to tell.
Ethan – And no one left to tell it to.
Eve – Who will be the last?
Ethan – The last?
Eve – The last to stay. The last to go. You? Me?
Ethan – Someone has to be last. The other will follow.
Eve – We were happy. We were sad.
Ethan – All that’s left is a fragmented past.
Eve – And an hour left.
Ethan – If the air conditioning holds.
Eve – And after?
Ethan – After…
Eve – After us, the flood.
Ethan – And no ark to save us or repopulate the world. After.
Eve – If there even is an after.
Ethan – We could leave a message.
Eve – The word “end.”
Ethan – A letter.
Eve – The letter Z.
Ethan – A testament.
Eve – But we’re the last, with no heirs.
Ethan – With us dies the line of men.
Eve – And of women.
Ethan – We have nothing to pass on, not even life itself.
Eve – Not even a world to be dead in.
Ethan – A testament for humanity, then. For another humanity to come.
Eve – What would we say? That we didn’t know how to stay alive?
Ethan – We have fifteen minutes left. Maybe less.
Eve – What could we possibly do?
Ethan – Talking is pointless.
Eve – Thinking won’t help.
Ethan – It’s so hot.
Eve – What’s left for us to do?
Ethan – Love? One last time…
Eve – It’s so hot. I don’t even remember your name.
Ethan – Ethan. And yours?
Eve – Eve.
Ethan – It had to be us…
Eve – Yes.
Ethan – So?
Eve – I don’t know. I no longer know. Why?
Ethan – We could have loved. Gotten married. Had a child.
Eve – We can still have a child.
Ethan – Yes.
Eve – But it wouldn’t make sense.
Ethan – I wasn’t talking about having a child. Only about…
Eve – Sorry… It’s a principle. Never on the last night.
Ethan – Principles are all we have left of being human.
Eve – To avoid becoming animals.
Ethan – Before we stop being human altogether.
Eve – And begin to be things.
Ethan and Eve prepare to leave.
Ethan – After you.
Eve – Thank you.
Ethan – We’ll leave this island and descend into the depths of the sea.
Eve – Or the sea will rise and swallow us.
Ethan – Before we slowly ascend, step by step, to the surface.
Eve – When an eternity has passed.
Ethan – Step by step, we’ll leave the kingdom of shadows.
Eve – And emerge once more from the abyss to rise into the light.
Ethan – Having forgotten everything.
Eve – One world disappears.
Ethan – Another will be born.
Eve – Will it be better than this one?
Ethan – Wherever we are, I’ll be there for you.
Eve – Whoever we are, we’ll at least be two.
Ethan – To begin…
Blackout.

L’article Terminus est apparu en premier sur La Sketchothèque.

Meat

Jean-Pierre Martinez — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 15:34:16 +0000

A Sketch by Jean-Pierre Martinez

Ethan and Eve are still there.
Ethan – It’s crazy. Everything grows in this garden.
Eve – We don’t even need to plant seeds.
Ethan – Or water it.
Eve – The harvest is miraculous—we just stretch out our arms to pick the fruit.
Ethan – And bend down to gather the vegetables.
Eve – And everything’s completely organic.
Ethan – Yeah… What does that even mean?
Eve – What?
Ethan – Organic.
Eve – No idea.
Ethan – What would fruit and vegetables that aren’t organic even look like?
Eve – I don’t know.
Ethan – Anyway, it’s organic.
A pause.
Eve – Sometimes, I get a bit tired of eating vegetables. Don’t you?
Ethan – Yeah. But what else could we eat?
Eve – What else is there to eat here, besides fresh produce?
Ethan – We’re not going to eat dirt…
Eve – We’re not going to eat air.
Ethan – We’re not going to drink seawater.
Eve – And eating each other’s out of the question.
Ethan – Obviously not…
A pause.
Eve – We could… eat the animals.
Ethan – The animals?
Eve – No, I’m kidding.
Silence.
Ethan – Then again, it might taste good.
Eve – You think?
Ethan – Doesn’t sound very appetising, though.
Eve – But it would make a nice change.
Ethan – How do we know it’s not good…
Eve – We’ve never tried.
Ethan – And… would we eat them alive?
Eve – What do you mean, alive?
Ethan – You know, like we do with fruit.
Eve – You mean raw.
Ethan – That’s it. Natural, you know. Like a salad.
Eve – Do you think they’d let us eat them raw?
Ethan – Yeah, maybe we’d have to kill them first.
Eve – Kill them?
An awkward silence.
Ethan – Have you ever killed anyone?
Eve – You mean, an animal?
Ethan – Yeah. Not a human. Since it’s just the two of us, if you’d killed someone, I wouldn’t be here to ask.
Eve – No… Well, not intentionally…
Ethan – If it’s accidental, it’s not so bad, right?
Eve – Yeah, it’s… involuntary manslaughter.
Ethan – If we accidentally killed an animal, we could eat it. You know, just to see what it tastes like.
Eve – Yeah… If it was accidental…
A pause.
Ethan – This conversation is starting to scare me…
Eve – Me too…
Ethan – And anyway, animals are like us. There’s only one pair of each species.
Eve – If we eat one each, that species is extinct.
Ethan – I think I’ll just have some more salad.
They each munch on a leaf of salad, without much appetite.
Eve – Want an apple for dessert?
Ethan – Go on, then…
They eat an apple.
Eve – I’m getting a bit tired of apples.
Ethan – Yeah… Me too…
Eve – Oh, there was a maggot in this apple.
Ethan – No way?
Eve – Well, I’ve eaten half of it. Without meaning to…
Ethan – And?
Eve – Not bad, to be honest…
Blackout.

All the texts available on this website can be downloaded for free. However, performance rights, which constitute fair compensation for the author’s work, are a legal obligation. Whether you are an amateur or a professional, you must request authorization to perform the play and pay the corresponding royalties for the production.

To get in touch with Jean-Pierre Martinez and ask an authorization to represent one of his works: CONTACT FORM.

A sketch from the collection Ethan and Eve
Link to the collection for free download (PDF)

Find all of Jean-Pierre Martinez’s plays on his website:
https://jeanpierremartinez.net

L’article Meat est apparu en premier sur La Sketchothèque.

Archives des Apple - La Sketchothèque

Terminus

Meat

A Sketch by Jean-Pierre Martinez