History NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished / Theatre

* ''Theatre/EpicTheMusical'': Pretty much all of Odysseus and his men's problems come from a spur-of-the-moment decision to spare the blinded cyclops Polyphemus rather than kill an already crippled and helpless enemy (it's worth noting in Homer's original works, this isn't framed as an act of mercy, Polyphemus is just too ''big'' to kill when he's awake). This allows Polyphemus to call on his father Poseidon to get revenge, leading to all the death, misery, and years of wandering that would follow.

** Similar to the above ''Les Miserables'' example, Angelica (Hamilton's sister in law) hides her feelings for Hamilton because she knows that her sister Eliza and Hamilton love each other very much. She even goes as far as to say that if she told her sister her feelings, Eliza would step aside, but that she loves her sister too much to do that to her.

* ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'': Elphaba finally has enough of her misfortunes during the song "No Good Deed", quoted on the main page and states the trope by name. By the time the musical number occurs, every major act of kindness or benevolence Elphaba's ever tried has blown up in her face. One of the more JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples came when [[spoiler: her enchanting of her crippled sister Nessarose's jeweled shoes enabled Nessa to walk, just in time to have her heart broken by the man she loved, and in a jealous rage, snatch up the very same book that gave her the use of her legs and use it to cast a horrible curse on him, which Elphaba could only save him from by turning him into the Tin Man]].

* ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'': Elphaba finally has enough of her misfortunes during the song "No Good Deed", quoted on the main page and states the trope by name. By the time the musical number occurs, every major act of kindness or benevolence Elphaba's ever tried has blown up in her face. One of the more JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples came when [[spoiler: her enchanting of her crippled sister Nessarose's jeweled shoes enabled Nessa to walk, just in time to have her heart broken by the man she loved, and in a jealous rage, snatch up the very same book that gave her the use of her legs and use it to cast a horrible curse on him, which Elphaba could only save him from by turning him into the Tin Man]].
** And to quote the Tin Man: ''Holy Christ!''
---> It's due to her I'm made of tin, her spell made this occur. And for once I'm glad I'm heartless, I'll be heartless killing her!
** Plus, her attempt [[spoiler: to save Fiyero's life also kinda backfired. She saves him from death, but her panicky desperate wording of the spell "Let his flesh not be torn, let his blood leave no stain. When they beat him, let him feel no pain, let his bones never break" [[LiteralGenie turns him into the Scarecrow]]]].
** Which in itself is ''still'' a step up from what she ''thought'' had happened: [[spoiler: With no way of knowing the outcome of her spell, she assumed it had failed completely and that he'd been ''beaten to death while crucified'']]. No wonder she [[HeroicBSOD flipped.]]
** At school she rescues a poor Lion's life before he can be experimented on; he's later been convinced to blame ''her'' for his horrible fears and phobias.
* In ''Theatre/{{Twisted}}'' Jafar works tirelessly to improve the kingdom just because he sincerely wants everyone to be happy. (This also leads to him taking the job of Vizier.) Everyone hates him, his wife [[spoiler: is taken by the Sultan to be a member of his harem and eventually dies]], and the entire kingdom remembers him as the villain. Does that stop him from [[spoiler: singlehandedly saving everyone]]? Nope.
* In the musical ''Theatre/{{Violet}}'', the title character comes to Flick's defense (as does Monty), and his attackers steal her suitcase as they flee.

** When the Bishop gives Valjean free room and board for the night - which no one else would do because of Valjean's nature as an ex-con - he is repaid by Valjean's attempt to rob the convent of their silver and escape in the middle of the night.

* In ''{{Theatre/Hamilton}}'', Alexander tries to save his reputation from ruin and clear his name of treason charges by releasing the Reynolds Pamphlet, in which he denies siphoning money from the government because he was using his ''own'' money to pay blackmail to James Reynolds for sleeping with his wife. It goes about as well as you'd expect. Given that Creator/LinManuelMiranda has stated that the purpose was to have Hamilton go through all the right steps in thinking of how to clear his name, and come to the ''absolute wrong conclusion'', it may not count out-of-universe, but to Hamilton, in certainly does.
** Similar to the above ''Les Miserables'' example, Angelica (Hamilton's sister in law) hides her feelings for Hamilton because she knows that her sister Eliza and Hamilton love each other very much. She even goes as far as to say that if she told her sister her feelings, Eliza would step aside, but that she loves her sister too much to do that to her.
** John Laurens is not only fighting for the freedom of his country, but also for those in the bondage of slavery. In a scene just before the Act I finale, a letter from Laurens's father reveals that [[spoiler:Laurens, at command of a battalion of escaped slaves, was killed in a battle with British forces after the battle of Yorktown (meaning that the war was already over) and that all the slaves had been returned to their masters]].
** When his eldest son Philip comes to him for advice on how to fight in a duel, Hamilton gives him the best advice he can and even lets him borrow his pistols. [[spoiler:Philip is subsequently killed in the duel following his father's advice]], sending his parents into tandem [[HeroicBSOD BSODs]].
* The end of Act I of ''Theatre/{{Newsies}}'' has Jack [[HeroicBSOD contemplating running away to Santa Fe]], Crutchie taken to [[HellholePrison The Refuge]], and the rest of the Newsies beaten senseless and forced to return to work - all for trying to strike against an unfair raise in the price of newspapers. Katherine is also blacklisted by every newspaper in the city for covering the Newsie strike.

* Elphaba, the protagonist in the Broadway musical ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', finally has enough of her misfortunes during the song "No Good Deed", quoted on the main page and states the trope by name. By the time the musical number occurs, every major act of kindness or benevolence Elphaba's ever tried has blown up in her face. One of the more JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples came when [[spoiler: her enchanting of her crippled sister Nessarose's jeweled shoes enabled Nessa to walk, just in time to have her heart broken by the man she loved, and in a jealous rage, snatch up the very same book that gave her the use of her legs and use it to cast a horrible curse on him, which Elphaba could only save him from by turning him into the Tin Man]].

* In ''Theatre/{{Twisted}}'' Ja'far works tirelessly to improve the kingdom just because he sincerely wants everyone to be happy. (This also leads to him taking the job of Vizier.) Everyone hates him, his wife [[spoiler: is taken by the Sultan to be a member of his harem and eventually dies]], and the entire kingdom remembers him as the villain. Does that stop him from [[spoiler: singlehandedly saving everyone]]? Nope.