Cards on the Table by Jean-Pierre Martinez

Cards on the Table brings together three characters who share the same space without taking part in the same scene: one believes he is attending a job interview, another thinks he is engaged in a game of seduction, while the third observes and intervenes in their game. The comedy arises from the overlapping of these incompatible scenarios, with every line changing meaning depending on who hears it. The misunderstanding thus becomes a constantly shifting construction in which everyone must continually revise their strategy.

An embellished CV, disguised seduction and professional courtesy all reveal the same tendency to shape one’s identity according to the way others see us. The restaurant becomes a marketplace of appearances, where words are used as much to sell oneself as to conceal oneself. The three equally balanced roles and the flexibility of the casting allow the relationships of desire, power and complicity to be constantly reshaped. When the cards are finally laid on the table, the truth does not bring the game to an end: it reminds us that, in order to appear to be ourselves, we have all first learnt how to play a role.