Hermeneutic Circlejerk
A Postmodern Exposé  
Paperback
eBook (EPUB)
eBook (PDF)
Kindle

• 2010, Venus Theatre, Laurel, MD (reading).

The play opens in a café in Paris in 1977. Michel-Henri, a middle-aged academic, sits at a small table with a bottle of wine. Jacques-Pierre, his colleague, rushes in with the news that Parliament has just rejected a petition they both signed, to abolish the age of consent and decriminalize “consenting” relations between adults and children. Jacques-Pierre is distraught, blaming Michel-Henri for having persuaded him to sign it.

Michel-Henri argues that it was the right thing to do, and that they must no longer settle for a life of shame and hiding, but demand that society change to accommodate their sexual desires. Jacques-Pierre declares his intention to repudiate the friendship and starts to leave. Michel-Henri wrestles him to the ground and begins to unfold his plan for inventing a new language and philosophy that will support pedophilia. He demands that Jacques-Pierre join him in this project, but Jacques-Pierre resists.

 At this point, their interaction moves into a perpetration scenario, with Michel-Henri overriding Jacques-Pierre’ protests and Jacques-Pierre becoming more and more submissive. The play ends with his capitulation, and the founding of postmodernism.

Two adult males, one female of color (narrator)
Single set
20 minutes

 

---