It’s not that often that somebody tells you they first got into their profession “by accident.” However, when I began my conversation with Gérald Sibleyras, award-winning French playwright, he seemed to have no problem admitting that theatre wasn’t ever the field he wanted to pursue a career in. “I actually wanted to be a musician,” he told me, “but quite quickly realised I had no musical talent and that I found it far easier to write. So that’s when I dabbled in different projects, starting off with the radio.” Gérald worked on these for a few years before calling his friend and simply saying, “hey, why don’t we write a play and see how it goes.” A laid-back approach, some might say, but it’s precisely this “pourquoi pas essayer et voir” mindset that makes Gérald such an engaging conversationalist – a person who has succeeded remarkably in theatre since his very first production. His first play, Le Béret de la Tortue (The Tortoise’s Beret), co-written with Jean Dell and first performed in 2000, marked the beginning of his ongoing success; since then, Gérald has written or co-written around twenty plays and adapted over ten. Notably, his comedy Le Vent Des Peupliers (Heroes) set in 1959 in a French retirement home for First World War veterans, was translated by prominent British-Czech playwright Tom Stoppard in 2005, introducing it to English theatre.
Hearing about his different plays, prompted me to ask if he had a favourite, but Gérald told me that he doesn’t view himself as nostalgic, so: “no, I wouldn’t say I have a favourite play, I don’t look back too much, I am just happy for my plays to do well, I want them to be enjoyed.” With that being said, it’s little surprise that he finished by saying, “my favourite play is simply the next one.”
More recently, Mon Jour de Chance (My Lucky Day), which is currently enjoying great success in Paris, is set to make its West End debut in 2026. The play will be performed in English, though the story will remain set in France. When I watched the play in late 2023, I was taken aback by its ability to have the whole auditorium – myself included – in hysterics. When we discussed social media and its influence on theatre, Gérald explained that, often, people “fall in love with individuals, their personas and that’s what they find funny. People buy tickets to go watch one-man shows and therefore it’s rarer to watch a comedy that’s created by multiple people on the stage.” However, if there’s a play that challenges this notion, it is, perhaps in an ironic sense, Gérald’s own Mon Jour de Chance. The plot follows Sébastien as he spends a weekend with his childhood friends. Guided by the roll of a die, he moves through different versions of what his life might have been. The play is creative, light-hearted but most importantly, funny. Yes – funny is the baseline requirement for a comedy – but with the rise of social media and how it impacts the culture of humour, it was refreshing to attend a play that left me feeling so amused that I wanted to watch it all over again.
Though, despite my enthusiasm for Gérald’s play, I couldn’t help but ask him about the future of theatre – a rather heavy question. His response, however, diffused any uncertainty I could have had. “Yes, young people don’t go nearly enough to the theatre” he said, “but that doesn’t matter. We always announce the death of theatre, we did when TV began, when the internet took over and when cinema first came about. But it still exists, I don’t think it will die because nothing else can replace the theatrical experience. It is so unique, seeing people in real life on a stage- there’s nothing quite like it.”
Feeling rather hopeful with his response, I went on to ask about his future projects. “Well, Mon Jour de Chance is going to be turned into a movie,” he explained, “but, it’s important to note that even though I write the script, I actually have no legal control.” I wondered how this made him feel, perhaps a little protective – this sentiment was confirmed when he said, with a little chuckle, “it’s like giving your baby away.” Gérald’s honesty was refreshing and hearing his point of view as a writer, gave me an insight into those who have a lot of creative responsibility but not directive. “As a writer, you lose all your power and influence when you mix theatre with cinema unless, of course, you just do it all yourself like Woody Allen. But that’s Woody Allen, which changes everything.” That’s also said with a little chuckle.
Based in London with his partner Sylvie Perez, who is a writer and journalist, he works on multiple projects at a time. Alongside Mon Jour de Chance’s movie adaptation, Gérald is adapting To Be or Not to Be, and writing a show on the much-loved comic series Tintin. “The hardest part of it all is finding a good idea,” he told me. “But, you can’t wait for inspiration to magically appear, you need to work and then ideas will come to you, it’s much better to push yourself. I like to think of what Picasso said, ‘inspiration exists, but it has to find you at work.’”
When discussing his new ideas and projects, the topic of actors became highly relevant as Gérald made it clear that, for him, it was the actors who really brought his ideas, and his scripts, to life. “The best script ever written, performed by terrible actors makes an awful play. Actors change everything because a play is all about what you hear and see and how you hear and see them. They are the kings of the industry.” Gérald lauded different actors he had the opportunity of working with but also, with his usual honesty, told me, “they aren’t always nice, and sometimes very difficult to work with.”
As our conversation came to an end, I thanked Gérald for his time and his contributions to theatre. I couldn’t help but gush over his numerous Molière nominations (and win for best adaptation) as well as his Laurence Olivier Awards. But, in a very Gérald-way, he told me, “thank you, but really, what’s so interesting and so great is theatre, not me.”
