Some difficult adolescents who have trouble finding their place (“mésinscrits”) will call into question their relationship with therapeutic mediation frameworks, which will oblige us to listen to them in a way that is especially attuned to potential play. Studying a case using treatment through the mediation of theater enables the author to define the specular games typically engaged in by adolescents “at the limits” of their subjectivation process. Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of play for the institutional treatment of adolescents who have trouble finding their place.