@Background Pony #6B5F  
That’s just Super Mario Bros 3. As far as I know, none of the other games have anything to do with stage performances. 3 had obvious nods to stage props and such while other games did not.

@Background Pony #6B5F  
So was Bowser Jr. parentage an attempt by the stage performers to copy the formula of a telenovella? Because if we want to go that route, there’s so many twists I want to see in future Mario games. Luigi was not Mario’s true brother, he pretended! But oh no, we found the birth certificate, and he IS Mario’s brother because blood relationship is more important than the people you care for! But then Wario is revealed to have been seperated from Mario at birth, and he’s a twin, so forget that moral from the character arc we just finished! We have a blood relative fueding with Mario now. And then Daisy gets pregnant by Toad instead of Luigi! But she has an abortion and we’re all made to feel like she’s a bad person. And that story arc is very suddenly dropped amidsts controversy and we must all focus on how Yoshi is now backstabbing Mario by throwing him off his back right before every cliff they come across, the dirty traitor!  
There are endless opportunities for commercials- I mean, dramatic storytelling!

I went up to a pair of Mario and Luigi cosplayers at a convention once and congratulated the Mario on his Red Luigi costume; both of their expressions were priceless.

@cdcdrr  

 
The plot of the Mario universe, at least according to Miyamoto and the late Iwata, is that Mario et. all are actors in a stage play. Each game is a different play that’s put on, but the general setting is the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser coming to attack it, the Yoshis fighting in the war between the two kingdoms, etc. How Mario Kart and the other side games are plays, I don’t know, but it’s never been specified what Mario’s relationship is all the other actors outside the plays. Maybe they’re friends, maybe they’re just toys, who knows.

The way Mario keeps settling for a cake from Peach does make me wonder if there’s some truth to the idea Peach and Bowser are the only ones in a relationship. Especially since Peach wasn’t even surprised Bowser Jr. claimed she was his mom.