| "Theatricality" | |
|---|---|
| Glee episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 20 |
| Directed by | Ryan Murphy |
| Written by | Ryan Murphy |
| Featured music | "Funny Girl" "Bad Romance" "Shout It Out Loud" "Beth" "Poker Face" |
| Production code | 1ARC20 |
| Original air date | May 25, 2010 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Theatricality" is the twentieth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode was written and directed by series creator Ryan Murphy, and premiered on the Fox network on May 25, 2010.
In "Theatricality", glee club member Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) has an identity crisis. The female club members and Kurt (Chris Colfer) pay tribute to Lady Gaga, performing in a selection of her costumes, while the rest of the male club members perform as Kiss. Rachel (Lea Michele) meets her mother Shelby (Idina Menzel), the coach of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, and Finn (Cory Monteith) and his mother move in with Kurt and his father, leading to a confrontation between Kurt and Finn, and Finn continuing to control Kurt about keeping his sexuality away from him, and using scare tactics to keep Kurt away. The episode features cover versions of five songs, all of which were released as singles, available for digital download, and three of which are included on the soundtrack album Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers.
"Theatricality" was watched by 11.5 million American viewers and received generally positive reviews from critics. Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly deemed it one of his favorite episodes of the season, and both Terri Schwartz of MTV and CNN's Lisa Respers France compared it positively to the Madonna tribute episode, "The Power of Madonna". O'Malley's acting and the Kurt and Finn storyline attracted critical praise, although Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post felt that similar scenes between Kurt and Burt were becoming increasingly frequent, diminishing their impact. BuddyTV's Henrik Batallones and Mary Hanrahan of Broadway World highlighted pacing issues with the Rachel storyline, and Hanrahan and Kevin Coll of Fused Film criticized the use of "Poker Face" as a mother–daughter duet.