coup de theatre

Noun

coup de théâtre (plural coups de théâtre)

1. A sudden or unexpected event in a play, pulled off by the author, the director, or even an actor.
   • This may be due to the fact that Aeschylus, in the last play of the Oresteia (458 B.C.), brings him to Athens to stand trial for his mother's murder--a coup de théâtre that would have been spoiled if he had come from there in the first place.1996, Bernard Knox, endnotes to Robert Fagles's translation of The Odyssey

   Synonyms:

   twist

2. A theatrical trick or gesture, something staged for dramatic effect.
   • I had arranged to track her husband down, reason with him, work on his feelings, telegraph for his wife, and in an affecting interview throw them into each other's arms. Now, goodness knows what would happen. Certainly not my beautifully conceived coup de theatre.1886, William John Locke, chapter 11, in Simon the Jester, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2014