A rooftop terrace. A character, man or woman, arrives (The CEO). They take off their shoes, loafers or high heels, and approach the edge of the stage, as if at the edge of an abyss, considering jumping into. Another character, man or woman (Angel), arrives behind the CEO and stands there, puzzled.
Angel – Mr. President…
The other turns around.
CEO – Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be better off stopping. Don’t you?
Angel – Stopping smoking, you mean?
CEO – Honestly, what’s the point of all this?
Angel – I don’t know, Mr. President…
CEO – It’s the crisis, my friend. The shoe market is in free fall. The company is on the edge of the abyss. There’s just one step left to take.
Angel – I… You shouldn’t be so pessimistic, Mr. President. We can still feel a bit of a stir.
CEO – A stir? You feel a stir, do you? But that’s a fever, my friend. A fever!
The CEO moves away from the edge of the stage, barefoot.
CEO – Have you heard of Empedocles’ sandals?
Angel – Empedocles’ sandals? No, Mr. President. But if you’d like, I can look into it.
CEO – Well, my dear, if one day you find my shoes on the edge of that volcano, you’ll know where to find me.
Angel – Where’s that, Mr. President?
CEO – Down below, my friend. In the cauldron of hell!
Angel – Very well, Mr. President. (His mobile phone rings) Excuse me for a moment, Mr. President… Yes? Yes, yes… Listen… I can’t talk to you right now… (Lowering his voice, moving away a bit) I’m with the CEO… (While he speaks, the CEO discreetly walks away, leaving his shoes behind.) Alright, I’ll call you back in five minutes…
Angel puts away their phone and, not seeing the President anymore, stands there, puzzled for a moment. Angel leans toward the edge of the stage to look down.
Another character, man or woman, arrives and starts smoking as well. Angel turns around and is surprised to see them.
Ellis – Are you okay?
Angel – Uh… Yes, yes…
Ellis – What are you working on these days?
Angel – The… The Sandals of Empedocles, have you heard of them?
Ellis – I’ve heard a bit about them, yes.
Angel – And do you know who they belong to?
Ellis – The sandals of… Well, to him, right?
Angel – To whom?
Ellis – To Empedocles.
Angel – Ah yes, obviously.
Ellis – Why?
Angel – I don’t know… A hunch… Don’t tell anyone, but I have a feeling it’s going to go up.
Ellis – Go up? Empedocles’ sandals?
Angel looks at the shoes again.
Angel – On the other hand, we might soon have a leadership problem here. If I were you, I’d sell. This stays between us, of course…
Angel leaves. Ellis watches Angel go, intrigued. After a moment, Ellis notices the shoes, approaches, and examines them with perplexity. Then Ellis moves a bit closer to the edge of the stage and looks down. Ellis takes out their phone and dials a number.
Ellis – Yes, it’s me. Hey, could you sell all the shares we have in… (Alan, another character, arrives and he stops) Wait, I’ll call you back…
Ellis leaves. The other one remains alone on stage.
Black.

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 Nicotine
Link to the collection for free download (PDF)

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

L’article Empedocles’ Sandals est apparu en premier sur La Sketchothèque.

A rooftop terrace. Two characters, either men or women, arrive. They light up cigarettes, possibly electronic. An uncomfortable silence ensues.
Casey – Did you know him?
Jordan – Yes, well… just by sight… I saw him around here occasionally during his smoke breaks… And you?
Casey – He worked in the office right next to mine.
Jordan – Mmm…
Casey – If we had suspected anything…
Jordan – Suspected what?
Casey – Well, what was going to happen to him.
Jordan – Mmm… And what could we have done?
Casey – I don’t know… We could have tried something…
Jordan – Oh yeah? Like what, for example?
Casey – You’re right, we couldn’t have done anything.
Jordan – Exactly.
Casey – It’s fate.
Jordan – So we have nothing to regret.
A moment passes as they smoke.
Casey – His wife decided to cremate him. That’s what he wanted, it seems.
Jordan – Yes, of course…
Casey – Why? Did he mention it to you?
Jordan – He set himself on fire… One could deduce he had a certain preference for cremation.
Casey – Mmm…
Jordan – And besides, for cremation, the hardest part is already done.
Casey – Well, he didn’t set himself on fire deliberately. It was an accident.
Jordan – An accident… You’d agree that with that level of clumsiness, we could still call it a failed act, right?
Casey – It’s true that lighting a cigarette while filling the gas tank with a jerrycan… It’s suicidal.
Jordan – Especially when it happens on the side of a highway. (A moment passes) Dit it happen before or after the truck hit him?
Casey – Before what?
Jordan – Before he went up in flames like a torch.
Casey – I think it was after. He started running as if he wanted to cross the highway. The truck driver tried to swerve, but couldn’t.
Jordan – Good thing the truck didn’t catch fire too.
Casey – It was a fire truck. You could say he had some luck in his misfortune. He got first aid immediately.
Jordan – Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Casey – What an idea to cross like that, without looking. Like a madman.
Jordan – Though, he was already engulfed in flames.
Casey – Who knows what he was trying to find on the other side of the highway.
Jordan – That… we’ll never know…
Casey – Mmm… He’ll take his secret to the grave…
Jordan – But you were right earlier. If we had suspected anything, we could have done something.
Casey – Like what?
Jordan – We could have tried to convince him to quit smoking.
Casey – Cigarettes… should be banned! Do you know how many people die every year because of tobacco?
Jordan – Well, he didn’t die directly from the harmful effects of tobacco on his health…
Casey – If he hadn’t lit a match over his jerrycan after running out of gas on the highway while going to pick up his mother-in-law, he’d be here smoking a cigarette with us today.
Jordan – It’s fate, I tell you. Well, shall we go?
They are about to leave.
Casey – They found a black cat on the median of the highway. I wonder if that brought him bad luck.
Jordan – And the cat, did it survive?
Casey – The cat? We don’t know if it’s alive or dead.
Jordan – Maybe he tried to cross the lanes to save the cat…
They leave.
Black.

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 Nicotine
Link to the collection for free download (PDF)

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

L’article A Twist of Fate est apparu en premier sur La Sketchothèque.