The Trouble With Reality

"Do you expect actors on the stage to tell you the truth?!" - Question I overheard today, which was meant in a rhetorical way with "No" for an answer.

But actually, despite my former own views, I do expect it from good actors. Maybe things on stage are not real, but they ought to be, even cruelly, true.

People or rather audiences used to understand this, e. g. Tilly Wedekind's troubles.