In an age of streaming services and instant on-demand entertainment, the (0) IMMEDIACY (IMMEDIATE) of live theatre might have been expected to lose its hold on the public imagination. Remarkably, the opposite has occurred. Inventive 1STAGE — often on a modest budget — continues to attract critical acclaim, and the most 2DRAMA productions still sell out months in advance. Post-pandemic 3AUDIENCE appear to value shared experience more than ever, and the atmosphere of a full auditorium remains 4RIVAL by any screen. Theatre also allows 5PERFORM to respond in real time to the energy of the room, a subtlety that weeks of 6REHEARSE can prepare for but never fully anticipate. Even as productions are increasingly filmed and streamed 7DIGITAL, most directors insist that nothing replaces being in the same space as the actors, and the evidence from ticket sales suggests that argument remains 8COMPEL.