13 Questionable Amateur Theater Plot Twists

by Matt Crowley

As an aspiring playwright, I see a lot of plays, and one of my favorite subgenres is the carpet-yanker: sometimes these pieces surprise because of intricate plotting and shattered expectations, while at other times they surprise because the storyline makes an insane left turn. Here are a few of my favorite twists from the latter category, all true and all culled from the New York theater scene.

1. The mysterious stranger is his dad and his dad is a ghost.

2. The mysterious stranger with a binder full of menus was in her imagination all along.

3. The mysterious stranger is a genie who makes everyone on the subway have an orgy.

4. The sexy waitress was all just his dream.

5. It looks like an office, but it’s actually Heaven.

6. It looks like a waiting room, but it’s actually purgatory.

7. His best friend, who keeps trying to get him to write music, is a personification of his guitar.

8. The three sisters are the personifications of Music, Art and Dance.

9. She didn’t really raise penguins for a living, she was just insane.

10. He, the waitress, and the cashier are all just an expression of the American Dream.

11. The milkman who keeps talking about things from the ’60s is a time traveler from the ‘60s.

12. He can’t marry her because his penis is a literal screwdriver.

13. She can’t stay with him because she’s the moon.

Matt Crowley is a comic, playwright and director living in Brooklyn. He once wrote a play where it turned out the sandwich was evil all along. Why not follow him on Twitter here?