History GenreDeconstruction / Theatre

* Music/StephenSondheim's ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' spends its first act as simply a retelling of the stories of "Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk", "Literature/LittleRedRidingHood", "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}", and "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", all tied together with the story of a baker and his wife who are cursed with infertility unless they can procure certain items from all four. In the end it looks like everyone's gotten what they want and is happy, but suddenly the narrator announces "To be continued!" Act two begins with the idea that the giant was just minding his own business when Jack came up the beanstalk and killed him, and just builds from there into an incredibly brutal AnyoneCanDie deconstruction of fairy tales.

* ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'' plays much like any of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's other comic operas, except the DeusExMachina never shows up, so everybody gets married to the wrong person.

* OlderThanFeudalism: Creator/{{Euripides}}' ''Trojan Women'' and ''Hecuba'' portrayed UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar as a human tragedy rather than a sweeping epic tale of martial valor in the Creator/{{Homer}}ic tradition. In general, his tragedies are regarded as more "modern" than those of his predecessors because of their morally ambiguous protagonists, pervasive sense of [[{{Wangst}} anxiety and despair]], religious skepticism and overall portrayal of mythologycal subjects and characters as real people.

* ''Theatre/NoisesOff'' is a backstage comedy that deconstructs a typical door-slamming sex {{farce}}, and how plays work in general, by exploring everything that can go wrong with [[ShowWithinAShow Nothing On]], a poor farce being performed by a troupe of actors. Personal relationships get in the way between cast members and ever the show's director, and by the third act ''Nothing On'' descends into a madhouse.

** ''Romeo And Juliet'' has been interpreted as a genre deconstruction of ''CommediaDellArte''. The stock characters are nearly all there, and the StarCrossedLovers plot, the ZanyScheme... only this time the zany scheme doesn't work, and five young people die.

* StephenSondheim's ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' spends its first act as simply a retelling of the stories of "Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk", "Literature/LittleRedRidingHood", "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}", and "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", all tied together with the story of a baker and his wife who are cursed with infertility unless they can procure certain items from all four. In the end it looks like everyone's gotten what they want and is happy, but suddenly the narrator announces "To be continued!" Act two begins with the idea that the giant was just minding his own business when Jack came up the beanstalk and killed him, and just builds from there into an incredibly brutal AnyoneCanDie deconstruction of fairy tales.

* ''Theatre/NoisesOff'' is a farce that deconstructs a typical English {{farce}} by exploring everything that can go wrong with [[ShowWithinAShow Nothing On]], a poor farce being performed by a troupe of actors. Personal relationships get in the way between cast members and ever the show's director, and by the third act ''Nothing On'' descends into a madhouse.

** ''Romeo And Juliet'' has been interpreted as a genre deconstruction of ''CommediaDellArte''. The stock characters are nearly all there, and the StarCrossedLovers plot, the ZanyScheme... only this time the zany scheme works just as well as an overly elaborate plot to get two teenagers together can be expected to and a lot of people die.

** ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' can be read as a deconstruction of the idea that "LoveAtFirstSight" can exist, since Romeo and Juliet's attraction is interpreted by many readers as purely superficial, more to do with lust than love, and brings nothing but tragedy to everyone around them (and, of course, themselves). Again, [[Administrivia/TakeItToTheForums it's debatable]].

*** ''Romeo And Juliet'' has also, with some success, been interpreted as a genre deconstruction of ''CommediaDellArte''. The stock characters are nearly all there, and the StarCrossedLovers plot, the ZanyScheme... only this time the zany scheme works just as well as an overly elaborate plot to get two teenagers together can be expected to and a lot of people die.

* The musical ''{{Urinetown}}'' has the downtrodden people fighting to overthrow the oppressive system that heavily taxes and regulates their bathroom usage during a worldwide massive drought. They succeed, but [[spoiler: they are so caught up in the "freedom" that they don't control themselves at all and end up effectively squandering all the remaining water.]]

** ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' has been read as a massive deconstruction of Elizabethan revenge dramas (although most of them end in tears for everyone).

** ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' can be read as a deconstruction of the idea that "LoveAtFirstSight" can exist, since Romeo and Juliet's attraction is implied to be purely superficial, more to do with lust than love, and brings nothing but tragedy to everyone around them (and, of course, themselves). Again, [[Administrivia/TakeItToTheForums it's debatable]].

* OlderThanFeudalism: Creator/{{Euripides}}' ''Trojan Women'' and ''Hecuba'' portrayed TheTrojanWar as a human tragedy rather than a sweeping epic tale of martial valor in the Creator/{{Homer}}ic tradition. In general, his tragedies are regarded as more "modern" than those of his predecessors because of their morally ambiguous protagonists, pervasive sense of [[{{Wangst}} anxiety and despair]], religious skepticism and overall portrayal of mythologycal subjects and characters as real people.

** In a like manner, ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'' can be read as a Deconstruction (or even a Satire) of revenge dramas. The over-the-top blood and gore, and the obvious mental instability of ''everyone'', including the play's purported "heroes," have led some modern audiences to call this play the most "[[QuentinTarantino Tarantino-esque]]" of Shakespeare's works.

* StephenSondheim's ''IntoTheWoods'' spends its first act as simply a retelling of the stories of "JackAndTheBeanstalk", "Literature/LittleRedRidingHood", "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}", and "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", all tied together with the story of a baker and his wife who are cursed with infertility unless they can procure certain items from all four. In the end it looks like everyone's gotten what they want and is happy, but suddenly the narrator announces "To be continued!" Act two begins with the idea that the giant was just minding his own business when Jack came up the beanstalk and killed him, and just builds from there into an incredibly brutal AnyoneCanDie deconstruction of fairy tales.
* ''{{Hamlet}}'' has been read as a massive deconstruction of Elizabethan revenge dramas (although most of them end in tears for everyone). ''Measure for Measure'' might do the same for comedies. The whole thing is a source of much debate.
** ''RomeoAndJuliet'' can be read as a deconstruction of the idea that "LoveAtFirstSight" can exist, since Romeo and Juliet's attraction is implied to be purely superficial, more to do with lust than love, and brings nothing but tragedy to everyone around them (and, of course, themselves). Again, [[Administrivia/TakeItToTheForums it's debatable]].
** In a like manner, ''TitusAndronicus'' can be read as a Deconstruction (or even a Satire) of revenge dramas. The over-the-top blood and gore, and the obvious mental instability of ''everyone'', including the play's purported "heroes," have led some modern audiences to call this play the most "[[QuentinTarantino Tarantino-esque]]" of Shakespeare's works.
* ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' plays much like any of GilbertAndSullivan's other operas, except the DeusExMachina never shows up, so everybody gets married to the wrong person.
* ''MButterfly'' is a deconstruction of the Western fantasy of [[MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow getting with an Asian chick]] in general, and Puccini's opera ''MadameButterfly'' in particular.
* ''AStreetcarNamedDesire'' did not deconstruct any genre in particular, but it did deconstruct gender roles, physical relationships, and the American system of social classes in a rather harsh way.
* OlderThanFeudalism: {{Euripides}}' ''Trojan Women'' and ''Hecuba'' portrayed TheTrojanWar as a human tragedy rather than a sweeping epic tale of martial valor in the Homeric tradition. In general, his tragedies are regarded as more "modern" than those of his predecessors because of their morally ambiguous protagonists, pervasive sense of [[{{Wangst}} anxiety and despair]], religious skepticism and overall portrayal of mythologycal subjects and characters as real people.
* The musical ''{{Urinetown}}'' has the downtrodden people fighting to overthrow the oppressive system that heavily taxes and regulates their bathroom usage during a worldwide massive drought. They succeed, but [[spoiler: they are so caught up in the "freedom" that they don't control themselves at all and end up effectively squandering all the remaining water.]]

** ''RomeoAndJuliet'' can be read as a deconstruction of the idea that "LoveAtFirstSight" can exist, since Romeo and Juliet's attraction is implied to be purely superficial, more to do with lust than love, and brings nothing but tragedy to everyone around them (and, of course, themselves). Again, [[TakeItToTheForums it's debatable]].