How much does theatre have to do with reality? What truths are conveyed to us by the events on the stage and the reactions of the audience? Hans Werner Henze’s "Wundertheater" of 1964, based on an Intermezzo by Miguel de Cervantes, and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s "verismo" opera "Pagliacci" of 1892 pose the question of performance and reality in the theatre in different ways.