Citations:playception

Noun: "(slang)a play that portrays actors staging a play or features an internal play; a play-within-a-play"

 * 2012, Emma Moore, "Sweets for the Sweet", Blue & Gold (International School of Belgrade), May 2012, page 1:
 * “It’s a ‘play-ception’ (referring to the movie Inception) with a lot of audience interaction that is very funny”. To clarify, Shahaf Shay said “It’s a play within a play”.
 * 2012, Maura Breen, "Latest play presents challenge for actors", Tan & Cardinal (Otterbein University), Volume 94, Issue 5, 26 September 2012, page 4 (image caption):
 * Playception: Each actor must portray a character playing another character.
 * 2014, Blake Jones, "Third Years, Fokkers and Frollicking", The Martlet (Abingdon School), Spring 2014, page 15:
 * The idea of a play within a play (play-ception), whilst in an intimate setting with a simple plot, seem to be constants.
 * 2014, Seb Fear, "GCSE Performances", Tonbridgian (Tonbridge School), Summer 2014, page 24:
 * Plays ranging from naturalistic pieces to a section of a play set within a play, a play-ception if you will.
 * 2015, Chloe Biggs, "Theatre Hotspot", Show Don't Tell, Issue 7 (2015), page 25:
 * Set in a modern secondary school, this fast paced, humorous play looks at the students putting on a play about the teachers and students of the school. An almost play-ception, this will bring back memories and the theme of playwriting is something we can all connect with.
 * 2016, Katherine Bauer, "[title of show] plays off of reality in playwrights' struggles toward success", The Times-Delphic (Drake University), 2 March 2016, page 8:
 * "[title of show]" tells the story about two guys writing a play about two guys who are writing a play. You get a play-ception sort of feel watching this performance.
 * 2016, Taylor Balfour & Isabella Levine, "Noises Off: audience laughs on", The Tide (Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville, Maryland), May 2016, page 1:
 * “It's playception,” junior Isabel Leiva described, explaining the premise of the play. With an endless list of costumes, props, and characters, and a play-within-a-play, the complexity of the show has proven to be a big challenge for the cast and crew.
 * 2016, Kaitlin Tom, "Artist of the Issue: Ari Troper", The Coat of Arms (Menlo School, Atherton, California), 3 November 2016, page 5:
 * "In the show, every actor plays an actor so it's kind of play-ception in that everyone in the show has a meta character they portray," Troper said.
 * 2018, Umazy Aramaz, "Musical Productions at Brunel", LeNurb (Brunel University), January 2018, page 10:
 * Curtains tells the story of a detective, Frank Cioffi, who finds himself looking into murders taking place behind the scenes of a 'Rob Hood' production - talk about play-ception!