The Play's the Thing
Written by Ashley Gable and Thomas A Swyden
Directed by Christopher Graves
Gabrielle unwittingly becomes a pawn in a theater scam when one of her scrolls falls into the hands of Zehra, the "Queen of Cons."
Tropes
- All Men Are Perverts: One of the first changes Joxer makes to the play is removing the midriff from Paulina's Xena costume, who he's seen ogling from offstage.
- All Part of the Show: The audience thinks Xena's arrival and the warlords storming the stage are part of the play, which Gabrielle takes advantage of when Zehra and Milo try to slip out by claiming the play is "interactive theater" and encouraging the crowd to capture them.
- Bloodier and Gorier: The original version of Gabrielle's play was very talky and avoided action, much to the annoyance of the cast and crew. They start making the play more violent, which Gabrielle is initially opposed to, but she later changes her mind and tries to find a happy middle ground."A message means nothing if no one hears it. A flower in the forest is just a plant if no one sees it. We're gonna need more blood. I want more skin. I want action. I want weapons. I want battlefields with beaten, bloodied bodies. We're gonna take this little flower and we're gonna cram it down their throats for their own good."
- Breather Episode: A lighthearted comedy episode sandwiched in-between some more serious tales.
- Doing It for the Art: Invoked for Gabrielle. She simply wants to spread her play's message and cares nothing for profit.Gabrielle: Artists aren't supposed to care what the public wants. We're not doing this for money.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: At the very end of the episode, Joxer threatens to tattle on everyone to his brother. Cue Sam Raimi's Executive Producer credit.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The very method actor is named Dustinus Hoofmanus.
- Real Men Wear Pink: While advertising the play, Joxer bumps into Therax, a violent warlord. Joxer worries about getting pummeled, but the guy is actually an enthusiastic theater fan.
- Shout-Out: An critic ponders over checking out Buffus the Bacchae Slayer instead of Gabrielle's play.
- Springtime for Hitler: Would you expect anything less in a Producers parody? Zehra's plan was to put on Gabrielle's lousy play in the hopes it would bomb, but adding in all the violence and gore made it a sure hit.Joxer: Um, Gabrielle, the play is great. Um, maybe if we just had a different title.
Gabrielle: Like what? Springtime for Warlords? - Whole-Plot Reference: To The Producers.
