芝居

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 芝居 (しばい) denotes a theatrical play and, by extension, an act put on to deceive someone.
• Basic usage: It refers to a stage performance or to pretended crying that fails to fool an observer.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Theater and pretense
  • 芝居を見る is literal attendance at a play, while 芝居にはだまされない treats behavior as a calculated performance.