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Le Gai Mariage
Gérard Bitton et Michel Munz
Le Gai Mariage
DR
Actes du théâtre n° 45.[ imprimer ]
Henri de Sacy, an incorrigible womanizer, is told that he’s about to inherit a million euros from an elderly aunt, provided that he gets married within the year. When Henri refuses to give up his love of (all) women, his friend and lawyer Norbert advises him to get married - but to a man, ushering in the new law authorizing “gay marriage.” He would be respecting his aunt’s last wishes without losing his freedom. Despite being a hard-core heterosexual, Henri is tempted by the sum of money and decides to propose this unusual contract to his friend Dodo, a single actor who is out of work and has nowhere to live. Will their supposedly confidential marriage end up being for better or for worse?

“ Their play is, above all, really funny.”
Jean-Luc Jeener, Le Figaroscope, November 10-16, 2010

Le Gai Mariage revives an old theater genre, the situation comedy, where the comic element resides in the convergence of incongruous and paradoxical events which the characters are locked into as victims of their own lies. Michel Munz and Gérard Bitton, expert screenwriter-directors, are unparalleled in using all the various comedic techniques to their greatest effect, through a multitude of misunderstandings and mistaken identities, and by applying the well-known theorem in which characters who are not supposed to meet come face to face. Thanks to their innate understanding of construction and an initial postulate of relentless credibility, Michel Munz and Gérard Bitton sweep you up into a wild and hilarious frenzy by brilliantly combining past (situation comedy), present (an action completely rooted in our times) and future conditional (legalization of gay marriage) - all the ingredients to make Le Gai Mariage pure entertainment.”
Note from the Director, José Paul





Note from the playwrights:
“We rarely worry about production constraints when writing a screenplay to be directed by us or entrusted to another director (even if we’re involved in the production). So we include a multitude of sets and masses of characters because a coherent story, powerful personalities and intense situations are the only things that count for us. Writing a stage play with five characters, one set and only three time ellipses - instead of hundreds - was a challenge that had long tempted us. The discipline imposed by these constraints was greatly offset by the pleasure involved in getting the most out of the comedic devices we used. While in film you’re putting together little bits and flashes, in theater you’re in a process of constant movement. In film you need a new idea every 30 seconds, whereas in the theater the same idea can be explored more in-depth and taken to its limits. That’s why we think the two genres are mutually enriching.”
Michel Munz & Gérard Bitton

Opened October 15, 2010 at the Théâtre des Nouveautés.
Director: José Paul and Agnès Boury. Cast: Gérad Loussine, Philippe Magnan, Lysiane Meis, Emmanuel Patron, Patrick Zard.

Characters : 1 women - 4 men -

NORBERT Why don’t you marry a guy?
HENRI Don’t be such a jerk….
NORBERT No, I’m serious. Now that the law allowing gay marriage has passed, you can marry whomever you like. Man, woman, mixed, anyone you want…
HENRI Am I missing something here? What would that change?
NORBERT Everything! You don’t want to marry a woman because you want to love them all. So marry a guy!
HENRI Are you insane or what? I’m not queer!
NORBERT Precisely. That way there’s no ambiguity. You pick a friend that you trust, a dyed-in-the-wool straight guy to make it simpler, you explain the situation to him and you give him a little cut of the proceeds just to be safe, it’s up to you, and a year from now you’re not only rich but you’ve also royally screwed your aunt.
HENRI No way, I can’t get married to a guy.
NORBERT Why not? Putting sex and marriage together is a recent thing. Marriage was created to preserve harmony and guarantee patrimonial order. You’re giving marriage back its original function. It’s a beautiful thing.
HENRI Well you’ve got a point. But wait a minute, are you really allowed to? I mean, even if you’re not...?
NORBERT Of course. People are allowed to marry as heterosexuals even if they’re not, so why shouldn’t it work the other way around? Otherwise it’s just discrimination.
HENRI And naturally we don’t have to...well, uh...? To pass an exam?
NORBERT An exam of homosexuality? No, I don’t think so.
HENRI Really? It’s quite intriguing. Totally insane, but intriguing!
NORBERT Brilliant you mean!
HENRI All right let’s just assume, as a mere hypothesis...
NORBERT You’d still have to live together. At least for the first few months, because of the process server.
HENRI You’re sure - there’s no way to…
NORBERT There’s no way around it. That’s the contract. He could show up at anytime, and if he sees that you’re not living with your bride - I mean bridegroom - or spouse as it’s stipulated in the will, then he’ll know right away it’s a phony marriage. Especially if your wife is a man.
HENRI Yeah, see? It’s not that simple. No, let’s drop it. It’s too insane.
NORBERT You’re right. And in any case, besides changing your life, quitting your shitty job and 1,800 euros per month, paying your debts and going on vacation all year long, the million euros won’t give you much of anything. And in the end it’s true that you’ll be teaching your aunt a lesson by refusing the money. That’s the main thing.
HENRI Come on, can you imagine the look on my father’s face? My co-workers? My boss?
NORBERT No one’s asking you to print your marriage license in People magazine. You do it discreetly, without anyone noticing. All you have to do is find a single guy who’s totally available...
HENRI (ironic) … and who has no personal life whatsoever and wouldn’t mind moving in with me for a year?! A total Martian in other words!? Really brilliant! The problem is I don’t know anyone like that.
NORBERT Hmmmm, is that soooo?
A beat. Silence. They slowly turn their gaze on Dodo, sitting at his desk and
slogging away at hooking up a computer.

HENRI (to Dodo ) What do you think?
DODO (stops tinkering with the computer) Well, we’ll have to reset your hard drive.