Which of these plays feature the rehearsal of a play within the body of the main play?
A) William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
B) Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author
C) Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
D) Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi
E) Vijay Tendulkar’s Silence! The Court is in Session
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

The correct answer is B and E.

Here is a detailed explanation of why these plays feature the rehearsal of a play (or a theatrical performance) within the body of the main play:

1. Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author (B):
This seminal modernist play is a classic example of metatheatre (a play within a play). As the drama begins, the audience sees an acting company on stage preparing to rehearse a play by Pirandello himself, titled Mixing It Up. This rehearsal is interrupted by the arrival of six mysterious characters who explain that they have been abandoned by their creator and are searching for a director and actors to bring their dramatic story to life. The rehearsal setting serves as the frame for the entire play's philosophical exploration of reality, illusion, and theatre.

2. Vijay Tendulkar’s Silence! The Court is in Session (E):
In this landmark Indian play, a troupe of amateur actors arrives at a village hall to perform a show. Because one of their members is absent, they decide to pass the time and prepare by staging a mock trial. This mock trial serves as a rehearsal/improvisation game where they put one of their colleagues, Miss Leela Benare, on trial for infanticide. As the rehearsal progresses, the lines between play-acting and reality blur, turning the simulated court session into a vicious, real-life interrogation of Benare's personal life.

Why other options are incorrect:
• Julius Caesar (A) contains dramatic action and historical tragedy, but does not feature a play rehearsal (unlike Shakespeare's Hamlet or A Midsummer Night's Dream).
• Death of a Salesman (C) relies heavily on memory sequences, subjective flashbacks, and hallucinations of the protagonist Willy Loman, rather than a play rehearsal.
• Ubu Roi (D) is a precursor to the Theatre of the Absurd, known for its surrealist, grotesque satire, but it does not employ the device of a rehearsal within the play.