History MindScrew / Theatre

* Any play written by Creator/SamuelBeckett, with ''{{Waiting for Godot}}'' probably being the most well-known example.

** His first play, ''The Bald Soprano''. Inspired by the inanity of the phrases found within an English-French phrase book the play contains bizarre speech patterns, unusual repetition, faulty logic, a spontaneous and unpredictable clock, a married couple who don't know each other, and a rather overdone argument concerning doorbells. The play is hilarious, but it's always hard to tell which parts are purely humorous and which are symbolic. [[spoiler:There is no bald soprano.[[note]]She gets mentioned once near the end of the play, before a character's exit, after which point the dialogue between the remaining ones delves into complete NonSequitur.[[/note]]]]

** For that matter, anything written by other [[{{Absurdism}} Absurdist]] playwrights - Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Adamov, Creator/HaroldPinter, Jean Genet.

* Eugene Ionesco, like most [[{{Absurdism}} absurdists]], did this excellently. While some of his plays were actually strange and elaborate metaphors (like how everyone turning into Rhinocerouss in Rhinoceros was analogous to the support of Nazis within France), some were just weird.
** His first play, the Bald Soprano. Inspired by the inanity of the phrases found within an English-French phrase book the play contains bizarre speech patterns, unusual repetition, faulty logic, a spontaneous and unpredictable clock, a married couple who don't know each other, and a rather overdone argument concerning doorbells. The play is hilarious, but it's always hard to tell which parts are purely humorous and which are symbolic. [[spoiler:There is no bald soprano.[[note]]She gets mentioned once near the end of the play, before a character's exit, after which point the dialogue between the remaining ones delves into complete NonSequitur.[[/note]]]]

** His first play, the Bald Soprano. Inspired by the inanity of the phrases found within an English-French phrase book the play contains bizarre speech patterns, unusual repetition, faulty logic, a spontaneous and unpredictable clock, a married couple who don't know each other, and a rather overdone argument concerning doorbells. The play is hilarious, but it's always hard to tell which parts are purely humorous and which are symbolic. [[spoiler:There is no bald soprano.]]

* Tennessee Williams' ''Camino Real'', or at least parts of it.

* Arthur M. Jolly's ''A Gulag Mouse''. The play mostly takes place in a bunkhouse, where the lead character argues and fights with four other women, before leading them in a daring escape attempt. In the final scene, [[spoiler: she meets her son, now grown, who tells her she has been in solitary for twelve years.]]. There are several interpretations for the ending, some saying that the final scene is only a dream, and that she is in fact freezing to death after escaping.

* August Strindberg's ''Ghost Sonata'' is this combined with NightmareFuel. "She sucks all the gravy out of the food and replaces it with water."

* Anything by Sam Shepherd.

* Any play written by Creator/Samuel eckett, with ''{{Waiting for Godot}}'' probably being the most well-known example.

* {{Harold Pinter}}'s ''Old Times''. A wife and husband (Kate and Deely) invite a guest (Anna) over for dinner and talk for the remainder of the story. The ending implies that Anna doesn't actually exist.

** For that matter, anything written by other [[{{Absurdism}} Absurdist]] playwrights - Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Adamov, HaroldPinter, Jean Genet.

* Any play written by Samuel Beckett, with ''{{Waiting for Godot}}'' probably being the most well-known example.

* TomStoppard:

* Creator/CirqueDuSoleil has at least one show that qualifies as this. ''{{Mystere}}'''s ExcusePlot has two babies searching for their loveys in a strange world of animals, viruses, angels, demons, etc. According to the creators, this is all a metaphorical exploration of the origin and meaning -- that is to say, the mystery -- of life. Not surprisingly, it's not easy to decipher the symbolism without help from the website and/or the making-of documentary, but you don't have to do that to ''enjoy'' the show.

* Theatre/{{Pippin}} could qualify. For the first 90% of the show, the players are all aware it's a ShowWithinAShow -- except for the actor playing Pippin, who's stated to be an actor but seems to think it's real. Then the script starts changing, characters die and come back to life, and Pippin is [[spoiler: told to kill himself; he is saved by his love interest, which gets them effectively banished from the troupe]]. Moreover, just before the show ends, the Leading Player says "Why, we're right inside your heads!" making you think it was AllJustADream and question if anything really happened at all!

* CirqueDuSoleil has at least one show that qualifies as this. ''{{Mystere}}'''s ExcusePlot has two babies searching for their loveys in a strange world of animals, viruses, angels, demons, etc. According to the creators, this is all a metaphorical exploration of the origin and meaning -- that is to say, the mystery -- of life. Not surprisingly, it's not easy to decipher the symbolism without help from the website and/or the making-of documentary, but you don't have to do that to ''enjoy'' the show.

* The musical Pippin could qualify. For the first 90% of the show, the players are all aware it's a show, except for the actor playing Pippin, who, even though he's stated to be an actor, seems to think it's real. Then the script starts changing, characters die and come back to life, Pippin is told to kill himself and is saved by his love interest changing the script, and just before the show ends, the players say "We're all in your head," making you think it was AllJustADream, and question if anything really happened at all!
* Anything by Sam Shepherd.

* The musical Pippin could qualify. For the first 90% of the show, the players are all aware it's a show, except for the actor playing Pippin, who, even though he's stated to be an actor, seems to think it's real. Then the script starts changing, charecters die and come back to life, Pippin is told to kill himself and is saved by his love interest changing the script, and just before the show ends, the players say "We're all in your head," making you think it was AllJustADream, and question if anything really happened at all!

*** Most of Beckett's plays are downright sane compared to his play "Endgame", involving 4 characters living in an underground basement after a possible nuclear holocaust. One character is confined to a wheelchair, and his parents live in dustbins.It's that kind of play

* TomStoppard's ''The Real Inspector Hound''. The Peanut Gallery becoming characters, the characters becoming peanut gallery, [[spoiler: and somehow it's a revenge murder plot by a scorned critic?]]
** Also, ''{{Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead}}''.

* Pretty much any play written by Samuel Beckett, with ''{{Waiting for Godot}}'' probably being the most well-known example.

** His first play, the Bald Soprano springs to mind. Inspired by the inanity of the phrases found within an English-French phrase book the play contains bizarre speech patterns, unusual repetition, faulty logic, a spontaneous and unpredictable clock, a married couple who don't know each other, and a rather overdone argument concerning doorbells. The play is hilarious, but it's always hard to tell which parts are purely humorous and which are symbolic. [[spoiler:There is no bald soprano.]]

* The interrogation sequence from ''Anyone Can Whistle'', an extended musical scene ironically titled "Simple."
** For elaboration, it's a thirteen-minute song that closes the first act, in which a dubious "doctor" has to sort through a crowd of people and determine who is sane and who is not. Eventually, he starts drilling the town council, and everything is in an uproar, until everything stops and he says "You are all mad." The lights go down on stage. When they come up, the cast is in seats, holding show programs, and they applaud the audience.

** ''Waiting for Godot'' is [[MindScrew rather ironically]], Beckett's most sensible piece of work. One of his other plays consists of half a minute of breathing noises that start and end with birth cries coming from a pile of garbage.

* The musical Pippin could qualify. For the first 90% of the show, the players are all aware it's a show, except for the actor playing Pippin, who, even though he's stated to be an actor, seems to think it's real. Then the script starts changing, charecters die and come back to life, Pippin is told to kill himself and is saved by his love interest changing the script, and just before the show ends, the players say "We're all in your head," making you think it was AllJustADream, and question if anything really happened at all!

** ''Waiting for Godot'' is [[MindScrew rather ironically]], Beckett's most sensible piece of work. One of his other plays consists of half a minute of of breathing noises that start and end with birth cries coming from a pile of garbage.

** Also, ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead''.

* Harold Pinter's ''Old Times''. A wife and husband (Kate and Deely) invite a guest (Anna) over for dinner and talk for the remainder of the story. The ending implies that Anna doesn't actually exist.

* Eugene Ionesco, like most absurdists, did this excellently. While some of his plays were actually strange and elaborate metaphors (like how everyone turning into Rhinocerouss in Rhinoceros was analogous to the support of Nazis within France), some were just weird.
** His first play, the Bald Soprano springs to mind. Inspired by the inanity of the phrases found within an English-French phrase book the play contains bizarre speech patterns, unusual repetition, faulty logic, a spontaneous and unpredictable clock, a married couple who don't know each other, and a rather overdone argument concerning doorbells. The play is hillarious, but it's always hard to tell which parts are purely humorous and which are symbolic. [[spoiler:There is no bald soprano.]]

* Pretty much any play written by Samuel Beckett, with ''Waiting for Godot'' probably being the most well-known example.
** For that matter, anything written by other Absurdist playwrights - Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Adamov, Harold Pinter, Jean Genet.

* Tennessee Williams' ''Camino Real'', or at least parts of it.