Internationally Produced Comedy Plays
A Selection for Professional Theatres and Directors
Jean-Pierre Martinez’s comedies have been translated into numerous languages and staged by professional theatres and companies across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.
For producers, artistic directors and theatre directors discovering his work for the first time, the size of the repertoire can make it difficult to know where to begin.
This page offers a curated selection of comedies with a proven international stage history, strong theatrical premises and production-friendly casts.
The plays range from intimate two-handers to small ensemble comedies. Their stories are rooted in universal situations — relationships, money, ambition, family, death, work and social appearances — which have allowed them to travel successfully across very different languages and cultures.
Small and flexible casts · International stage history · English scripts available · Performance rights administered through SACD
Why These Plays?
A comedy that travels internationally must offer more than humour.
It needs a situation that can be understood immediately, characters actors want to play, enough dramatic tension to sustain an audience’s attention, and a story capable of surviving translation and cultural adaptation.
The plays selected below have already crossed borders and found audiences in different theatrical traditions. Most require only a small cast and limited technical resources, making them particularly suited to professional productions, touring companies and festivals.
All scripts can be read and downloaded free of charge for evaluation. Public performances require prior authorisation and payment of performance rights. Contact about performance rights
Comedies for Two Actors
Euro Star
2 actors · 1 man, 1 woman · Situation comedy
A successful film director and an ambitious actress meet on the Eurostar on their way to London. When the train suddenly stops in the Channel Tunnel, appearances begin to unravel. Neither is quite who the other thought they were.
Production strengths
A self-contained two-hander built around a strong situation, changing power relationships and successive revelations. Minimal cast requirements make it particularly suitable for intimate venues and touring.
The English text is available on the site. The play was originally produced in Nice and subsequently in Paris.
The Joker
2 actors · 2 men or 2 women · Contemporary comedy
A screenwriter suffering from both writer’s block and a computer breakdown receives an unexpected visit from a mysterious repairman. Everyone deserves a wild card — and perhaps a second chance.
Production strengths
Only two actors, flexible gender casting and a simple theatrical premise that gradually opens onto something more unsettling and unexpected.
Created in Buenos Aires, The Joker has subsequently been staged in countries including Peru, Iran, Burundi and Mexico. It is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech and Arabic.
Is There a Pilot in the Audience?
2 actors · any gender combination · Situation comedy
On a Paris–Tokyo flight, the editor of a sensationalist magazine meets an embalmer who claims to possess an extraordinary scoop. The problem is that for the next twelve hours there is no way to publish it.
Production strengths
A closed-space comedy for two actors built around information, frustration, manipulation and shifting identities. The situation is immediately understandable in any culture and requires very limited staging.
Created in Buenos Aires, the play has also been staged in France, Spain and Brazil and is available in Spanish and Portuguese as well as English.
Comedies for Three Actors
Friday the 13th
3 actors · multiple gender configurations · 4-actor version also available
A couple are waiting with a friend to learn whether her husband has survived a plane crash. At exactly the same moment, they discover that they have won a huge lottery jackpot. How do you conceal the best news of your life from someone who may just have received the worst?
Production strengths
An immediately communicable high-concept premise, escalating twists, flexible casting and a single central situation. It combines broad audience appeal with increasingly dark comic complications.
Friday the 13th is one of Jean-Pierre Martinez’s most widely travelled comedies, with productions in the United States, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, India, Iran, Peru, Ecuador, Nigeria, Brazil and France, among others. It has been translated into numerous languages.
An Innocent Little Murder
3 actors · 1 man/2 women or 2 men/1 woman · Black comedy
Involuntary adultery can easily lead to involuntary manslaughter. Getting rid of the evidence, however, is another matter entirely.
Production strengths
Three strong roles, a rapidly escalating plot and a mixture of domestic comedy, crime and black humour. The casting can be adapted by switching the gender configuration.
Created at the Institut Français in Madagascar, the play has subsequently been produced across Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia, including major professional productions in Bulgaria and Kosovo.
Read An Innocent Little Murder →
A Simple Business Dinner
3 actors · 2 men, 1 woman · Social and political comedy
A CEO invites a government minister to dinner hoping to secure a major contract. To help close the deal, he hires an escort. Unfortunately, the woman who arrives believes she has merely been hired to serve the food.
Production strengths
Three clearly defined comic roles, one central situation and a satire of money, power and corruption that translates easily across national contexts.
Originally produced in France, the play has also been staged in Spain, Nicaragua, Bulgaria and Cambodia.
Read A Simple Business Dinner →
Fragile, Handle with Care
3 actors · adaptable to 2 actors · Romantic situation comedy
After another failed relationship, Fred bets his best friend that no woman will spend the night at his place before the end of the year. On Christmas Eve, with victory almost secured, an unexpected visitor arrives.
Production strengths
A compact contemporary comedy with an accessible premise, strong romantic tension and several possible casting configurations, including a two-actor adaptation.
After its French premiere, the play was also produced in Turkey under the title Dikkat Kırılır, at the Malatya Congress and Culture Center in 2025.
Comedies for Four Actors
Strip Poker
4 actors · gender-flexible casting · Black comedy
Inviting the new neighbours over for dinner seems harmless enough. But as the evening turns into a metaphorical game of strip poker, everyone is eventually forced to put their cards — and their secrets — on the table.
Production strengths
Four substantial acting roles, a single domestic setting, escalating revelations and a universal social situation. The play can move from familiar comedy into much darker territory without losing its audience.
Strip Poker has an extensive international production history including Ukraine, Uganda, Peru, Argentina, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Panama, Uruguay and the United States.
Casket for Two
4 actors · 2 men, 2 women · Black political comedy
Two candidates in a local election are forced to cremate their respective spouses on polling day. With ballot boxes and funeral urns in the same place, confusion is inevitable — especially when the funeral director has just hired a highly unpredictable temp.
Production strengths
A strong visual premise, four sharply contrasted characters and a combination of political satire, farce and black comedy.
The play has been produced internationally in Bulgaria, Nigeria, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and North Macedonia, among other countries.
The Perfect Son-in-Law
4 actors · 2 men, 2 women · Comedy of character
If you abandon your fiancée a few days before the wedding and leave nothing but a note on the refrigerator, there is one simple rule: never come back.
Naturally, he does.
Production strengths
A highly recognisable family situation, four rewarding roles and a plot driven by old resentments, awkward reunions and changing alliances.
Created in Brussels, the play has subsequently been staged in France, Burkina Faso, Peru and South Africa.
A Flexible Ensemble Comedy
Happy Hour
6 characters · flexible male/female distribution · Dark comedy
In a late-night bar watched by the police as they hunt for a dangerous psychopath, a disturbing bartender becomes the confidant of lonely customers waiting to meet strangers they have encountered online.
Production strengths
A gallery of colourful characters, a distinctive setting and a mixture of black humour, contemporary relationships and suspense. The gender distribution can be adapted to different companies.
The play has been staged in France, Portugal, Angola and India, including a production at MUDAS, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Madeira, and a 2025 production in Mumbai.
Read before you produce
Choosing a play is an artistic decision, but also a production decision.
That is why the complete texts of Jean-Pierre Martinez’s plays can be read and downloaded free of charge for evaluation.
Many are available in several languages and in alternative casting versions.
Browse all plays in English →
Browse plays by cast size →
Browse plays by genre →
Performance Rights and Professional Productions
Jean-Pierre Martinez is a member of SACD – the French Society of Authors.
Professional performance rights are administered by SACD and, depending on the country, by its partner societies or authorised representatives.
If you are considering a professional production and would like information about:
- performance rights,
- available translations,
- alternative casting versions,
- existing productions in your territory,
- or the appropriate rights organisation in your country,