History OneSceneWonder / Theatre

* The Ghost of King Hamlet is often done this way. Some reports suggest that the role was originally played by Shakey himself.
** The First Gravedigger (or "Clown") in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' was written this way because Shakespeare may have been trying to showcase his best comedic actor going head-to-head with his best dramatic actor.

*** Do you like my owl?

** The Young Soldier in ''{{Theatre/Parade}}'' is considered by some to be one of the best roles in the show, despite being onstage for only the first three minutes, and even that is only the first half of the first song.

* The very beautiful aria [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-UQt5HXWnQ "Di rigori amato"]] from "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss is sung by a character called "An Italian Singer" who comes in, sings the aria, is interrupted and leaves, not to be seen again.

* The Hermit in ''Theatre/DerFreischuetz'' doesn't even appear until halfway through the second-act finale,
whereupon he guides the plot to its ultimate resolution.

* [[BlindSeer Tiresias]] from ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'' may be the UrExample. He gets exactly one scene near the end of the play, during which time he delivers an incredibly ominous, creepy monologue about the doom that Creon has brought upon Thebes, expertly deconstructs [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech how badly Creon has screwed things up]], insults him ''to his face'', and walks offstage [[RefugeInAudacity suffering no repercussions whatsoever.]] Not only that, but he's one of the only people [[KillEmAll still alive]] at the end.

** ''Theatre/EvilDeadTheMusical'' features the character of Ed, who is constantly interrupted, and only gets in one or two words at a time until the number "Bit Part Demon" outside of this, however, Ed is indeed, a glorified extra.

* Much of Brian "Le Petit" Dewhurst's role in Creator/CirqueDuSoleil's ''Mystere'' comes before it actually starts, as he handles a preshow while the ushers finish seating the audience; in the show proper he only appears in the opening sequence, a blackout skit, and a ten-or-so-minute setpiece in the final half-hour. (Usually in Cirque, a clown gets at least two in-show setpieces and often the preshow too; his role is smaller because one of the lead characters, Bebe Francois, overlaps with a clown act.) In fact, his character is a ScrewySquirrel who isn't "actually" part of the proceedings; he rarely appears in advertisements for it. But he is also a CoolOldGuy (in both the show and RealLife) who just about steals the show -- and there is ''a lot'' to steal -- with his antics and the bond he establishes with said audience from the preshow onwards.