In this innovative reading, Irene Eynat-Confino offers an explanation for the higher effectiveness of the fantastic in theatre. Taking Cocteau's masterpiece "The Infernal Machine" as a case study, she also reveals that when the fantastic is introduced within a realistic context, it encodes and conveys unconventional notions. The book addresses such issues as identity, the Oedipus myth and Freud, homosexuality and homophobia, marginality, and the role of the artist in society.

The book reveals how the fantastic is used in modern theatre as a manipulative device to encode the unspeakable and control audience response, challenging conventional readings of all authors who use the fantastic.