History CreatorBreakdown / Theatre

* In-story example: In Creator/MartinMcDonagh's fabulously chilling and inventive play ''The Pillowman'', the protagonist's parents [[spoiler:imprison and torture his brother Michael and allow the protagonist to overhear]] ''just'' so that the protagonist will become a darkly brilliant writer.

** However, things went further downhill in the 90s, which makes the lyrics for the Disney shows that he did subvert the ParentalBonus trope by making the adults squirm in their seats at theatre: "Home" sounds far more like someone trapped in an unhappy marriage, while ''Theatre/{{Aida|JohnRice}}'' where songs like "Elaborate Lives" and "A Step Too Far" are overflowing with an air of sadness and regret (although this also applied to the source material).
* Creator/HenrikIbsen went through a harsh one in the late 1850s. In 1859, he hit RockBottom and was found dead drunk in a ditch somewhere, only to be collected by fellow poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who tended to him. He managed to hold on for four more years, but then he left Norway for good, and resided in Italy for many years. If you read his plays from 1860 and onwards, you will find Ibsen more and more snarky and cynical, and also self-deprecating. When he returned to Norwayn as a celebrated playwright, he made sure ''nobody'' got close to him.
** There is a notable hole in his production between 1858, when he wrote ''Theatre/TheWarriorsAtHelgeland'' and 1862, when he published ''The Comedy of Love''. The latter play is considerably more snarky than the former. I also deconstructs the viking ideal, which was played straight in the earlier play. From this moment on, Ibsen deconstructed his tropes more than ever.

* It's wildly debatable, but some scholars have linked Creator/WilliamShakespeare's play ''{{Hamlet}}'' to the death of his son Hamnet shortly before the play was written. Including Harold Bloom.

** However, things went further downhill in the 90s, which makes the lyrics for the Disney shows that he did subvert the ParentalBonus trope by making the adults squirm in their seats at theatre: ''Home'' sounds far more like someone trapped in an unhappy marriage, while ''Theatre/{{Aida}}'' where songs like ''Elaborate Lives'' and ''A Step Too Far'' are overflowing with an air of sadness and regret (although this also applied to the source material).

* A lot of Tim Rice's post-''{{Evita}}'' stuff exemplifies this trope due to his affair and subsequent break-up with Elaine Paige. It gets absolutely everywhere in ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'', even into the VillainSong.

* In-story example: In Creator/MartinMcDonagh's fabulously chilling and inventive play ''The Pillowman'', the protagonist's parents [[spoiler: imprison and torture his brother Michael and allow the protagonist to overhear]] ''just'' so that the protagonist will become a darkly brilliant writer.

* An In-universe example in the musical adaption of ComicBook/FunHome, Regular!Allison briefly suffers one before the song "Edges of the World". She gets better though and ends up finishing her book on a happier term.

** An In-universe example in the musical adaption of ComicBook/FunHome, Regular!Allison briefly suffers one before the song "Edges of the World". She gets better though and ends up finishing her book on a happier term.

** There is a notable hole in his production between 1858, when he wrote ''Theatre/TheWarriorsAtHelgeland'' and 1862, when he published ''The Comedy of Love''. The latter play is considerably more snarky than the former. I also deconstructs the viking ideal, which was played straight in the earlier play. From this moment on, Ibsen deconstructed his tropes more than ever.

** However, things went further downhill in the 90s, which makes the lyrics for the Disney shows that he did subvert the ParentalBonus trope by making the adults squirm in their seats at theatre: ''Home'' sounds far more like someone trapped in an unhappy marriage, while ''{{Aida}}'' where songs like ''Elaborate Lives'' and ''A Step Too Far'' are overflowing with an air of sadness and regret (although this also applied to the source material).

** There is a notable hole in his production between 1858, when he wrote ''Theatre/TheWarriorsAtHelgeland'' and 1862, when he published ''Theatre/TheComedyOfLove''. The latter play is considerably more snarky than the former. I also deconstructs the viking ideal, which was played straight in the earlier play. From this moment on, Ibsen deconstructed his tropes more than ever.

* Sarah Kane cultivated an infamous reputation in the late-90s British theater scene for her dark, nightmarish themes in her work, pioneering the "In Yer Face" subgenre of plays. Her fifth, and final, play, ''4:48 Psychosis'' is a long monologue, containing no character names or stage directions, about a mental breakdown. In reality, she was battling depression and committed suicide before ''4:48 Psychosis'' premiered.

** The story already existed, but may have excited Shakespeare's interest after his son's death, especially given its father-son themes. Also, the two names were interchangeable: documents record the same man calling himself "Hamlet" and "Hamnet" in different documents. Bill Bryson says this passage was also inspired by Hamnet:

* Creator/HenrikIbsen went through a harsh one in the late 1850s. In 1859, he hit RockBottom and was found dead drunk in a ditch somewhere, only to be collected by fellow poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who tended to him. He managed to hold on for four more years, but then he left Norway for good, and resided in Italy for many years. If you read his plays from 1860 and onwards, you will find Ibsen more and more snarky and cynical, and also self-deprecating. When he returned to Norwayn as a celebrated playwright, he made sure ''nobody'' got close to him.

** However, things went further downhill in the 90s, which makes the lyrics for the Disney shows that he did subvert the ParentalBonus trope by making the adults squirm in their seats at theatre: ''Home'' sounds far more like someone trapped in an unhappy marriage, while ''{{Aida}}'' where songs like ''Elaborate Lives'' and ''A Step Too Far'' are overflowing with an air of sadness and regret (although this also applied to the source material).

* Mild example: Creator/CirqueDuSoleil was still a relative upstart when it developed ''{{Mystere}}'', their first non-touring show and thus the first to be staged in a more conventional theater space. Writer-director Franco Dragone was so spent by the experience that by the time it was finished he had decided the next show would be sadder and darker in its tone and story, with a title referring to life going on despite strife and woe. That show, ''Theatre/{{Alegria}}'', is still the most beloved Cirque tour to date.

* Mild example: Creator/CirqueDuSoleil was still a relative upstart when it developed ''{{Mystere}}'', their first non-touring show and thus the first to be staged in a more conventional theater space. Writer-director Franco Dragone was so spent by the experience that by the time it was finished he had decided the next show would be sadder and darker in its tone and story, with a title referring to life going on despite strife and woe. That show, ''{{Alegria}}'', is still the most beloved Cirque tour to date.

* Mild example: CirqueDuSoleil was still a relative upstart when it developed ''{{Mystere}}'', their first non-touring show and thus the first to be staged in a more conventional theater space. Writer-director Franco Dragone was so spent by the experience that by the time it was finished he had decided the next show would be sadder and darker in its tone and story, with a title referring to life going on despite strife and woe. That show, ''{{Alegria}}'', is still the most beloved Cirque tour to date.

* A lot of Tim Rice's post-{{Evita}} stuff exemplifies this trope due to his affair and subsequent break-up with Elaine Paige. It gets absolutely everywhere in ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'', even into the VillainSong.

** However, ItGotWorse in the 90s, which makes the lyrics for the Disney shows that he did subvert the ParentalBonus trope by making the adults squirm in their seats at theatre: ''Home'' sounds far more like someone trapped in an unhappy marriage, while {{Aida}} where songs like ''Elaborate Lives'' and ''A Step Too Far'' are overflowing with an air of sadness and regret (although this also applied to the source material).

* In-story example: In MartinMcDonagh's fabulously chilling and inventive play ''The Pillowman'', the protagonist's parents [[spoiler: imprison and torture his brother Michael and allow the protagonist to overhear]] ''just'' so that the protagonist will become a darkly brilliant writer.

* In-story example: In {{Martin McDonagh}}'s fabulously chilling and inventive play ''The Pillowman'', the protagonist's parents [[spoiler: imprison and torture his brother Michael and allow the protagonist to overhear]] ''just'' so that the protagonist will become a darkly brilliant writer.

* It's wildly debatable, but some scholars have linked {{Shakespeare}}'s play ''{{Hamlet}}'' to the death of his son Hamnet shortly before the play was written. Including Harold Bloom.

* Sarah Kane cultivated an infamous reputation in the late-90s British theater scene for her dark, nightmarish themes in her work, pioneering the "In Yer Face" subgenre of plays. Her fifth, and final, play, ''4:48 Psychosis'' is a long monologue, containing no character names or stage directions, about a mental breakdown. In reality, she was battling depression and committed suicide before ''4:48 Psychosis'' premiered.
* A lot of Tim Rice's post-{{Evita}} stuff exemplifies this trope due to his affair and subsequent break-up with Elaine Paige. It gets absolutely everywhere in ''{{Theatre/Chess}}'', even into the VillainSong.

** However, ItGotWorse in the 90s, which makes the lyrics for the Disney shows that he did subvert the ParentalBonus trope by making the adults squirm in their seats at theatre: ''Home'' sounds far more like someone trapped in an unhappy marriage and {{Aida}} is wall-to-wall sadness (although so was the source material).

** ''The Pillowman'' was actually written by McDonagh as a response to people who kept complaining that all he wrote were dark, disturbing plays. Talk about ReversePsychology...

* In-story example: In [[MartinMcDonagh Martin McDonagh's]] fabulously chilling and inventive play ''The Pillowman'', the protagonist's parents [[spoiler: imprison and torture his brother Michael and allow the protagonist to overhear]] ''just'' so that the protagonist will become a darkly brilliant writer.
** ''The Pillowman'' was actually written by [[MartinMcDonagh McDonagh]] as a response to people who kept complaining that all he wrote were dark, disturbing plays. Talk about {{ReversePsychology.}}...