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{{trope}}
{{quote|"Oh, hey. We're rehearsing a - a scene for the upcoming company play called uh, Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me. It's a musical." |''[[Monsters, Inc.]]''}}
Two characters are caught in the middle of doing something they do not want others to know about, like talking openly about the [[Masquerade]], fighting among each other or [[Not What It Looks Like|making out]]. Since the situation is blatantly obvious, the only option is to claim that it was all just an act. Probably for a [[School Play]].
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Bonus points if this gets taken so far that the play actually ends up being written.
A subtrope of [[Blatant Lies]]. Compare [[Hurricane of Excuses]]. Compare [[
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In ''[[Drama Con]]'' Derek says it at the beginning at a customer who caught Chris and him arguing.
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== Film ==
* The ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]'' example gets taken to
* ''[[Men in Black (
{{quote|
'''Frank:''' Beats me.
'''Agent K:''' Beats you? ''[Starts shaking Frank around]''
'''Frank:''' ''[Starts yelping]''
'''Agent J:''' ''[To a passerby]'' They're rehearsing a ventriloquist act. }}
* ''[[Moulin Rouge]]''. Gets taken so far that said play ends up actually being written.
== [[Live
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': "Rehearsing a play" tends to be used if a [[Muggle]] catches the heroes talking about demons and monsters.
* ''[[Friends]]'':
{{quote|
'''Ross:''' We're rehearsing a Greek play. }}
* The inversion also appears in ''[[
* The ''[[
* Inverted on ''[[I Love Lucy]]'', too. One episode, Lucy suspected new residents in a neighboring apartment of being Soviet spies, and while snooping around in their apartment, she winds up hiding in the closet when they return and hears them discussing plans about executing an important espionage mission for a communist agenda. Lucy freaks out, calls the police, at the episode's conclusion, it turns out that Lucy's new neighbors are actors who were reciting their lines for a play. In a large part, this was a [[Take That]] from Desi Arnaz, a Cuban, who, with wife Lucy, were both suspected of being communists in [[Real Life]] by... the FBI.
* This happened in the ''[[Star Trek:
* In an episode of ''[[Cheers]]'', Woody is in a play, but is afraid that his girlfriend Kelly won't approve. He hides it from her, but she eventually walks in on him practicing a kiss with his co-star. Kelly runs from the room crying. "You're in a play and you didn't even tell me!"
* Played with on ''[[Neighbours]]'': Ruth walks in on Amy and Lance in the midst of what appears to be a bitter breakup. They tell her they're rehearsing for a play. In actuality, they're rehearsing for a public breakup, staged so that Amy can get back in with her former best friend Jacinta, who she suspects of framing Lance and getting him suspended.
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== [[
* During a task in ''[[Grand Theft Auto]] IV'', Niko has the job description described to him, in a roundabout, not really implicating way, in a car that his employer's other agent (the man explaining the job) thinks may have listening devices in it. Niko then bluntly sums up the assignment to be sure he understood, leading his co-worker to quickly state, for the benefit of anyone listening, that he does not really know Niko, and that they are rehearsing for a night school drama class they attend together.▼
* ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'': A pizza delivery boy [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2006-02-27 walks in] on [[Gender Bender|Male!Susan and Male!Nanase]] discussing skirts, and transformed Tedd tried to explain it away. The problem is, this guy's also the head of the student council in Tedd's school. {{spoiler|Okay, [[Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word|not]] a ''big'' problem...}}▼
▲* ''[[
** Later Ellen and Nanase are caught kissing by Nanase's "Scary Homophobic Mother", Ellen [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-01-11 claims] "We're rehearsing a play about CPR!" while Nanase decides to come out.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Inverted on ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Homer was once heard shouting, "I'm going to kill you" in an angry tone, and Marge thought he had snapped. It turned out that Homer and Bart are rehearsing for a play, and Homer was just reading the play's title, ''I'm Going To Kill You'', aloud.
** Which gets double inverted: seconds later, Homer appears to be reading from the play and says "Professor Van Doren -- so good to see you." Then Professor Van Doren appears in the doorway and says "Ah, rehearsing a play, I see."
** Another ''Simpsons'' episode has Bart getting paranoid about a series of threatening letters {{spoiler|from Sideshow Bob}}. One scene (part of a montage of similar [[Bait
** The trope is mentioned in the episode where Bart sees Principal Skinner and Mrs. Krabappel making out at a party. Skinner tries to convince Bart that he (Bart) just imagined it, prompting Bart to say "That's the best you can do? You could have at least said that you were [[Kiss of Life|giving her CPR]] or rehearsing a play!". Skinner then asks if it's too late to say that.
▲== [[Video Games]] ==
▲* During a task in [[Grand Theft Auto]] IV, Niko has the job description described to him, in a roundabout, not really implicating way, in a car that his employer's other agent (the man explaining the job) thinks may have listening devices in it. Niko then bluntly sums up the assignment to be sure he understood, leading his co-worker to quickly state, for the benefit of anyone listening, that he does not really know Niko, and that they are rehearsing for a night school drama class they attend together.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Truth and Lies]]
[[Category:
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