ABSTRACT
Collective creation of theatre art is a powerful human experience. There is a reason why the ancient Greeks considered this process, and the offering of it in performance, one of the highest religious rituals. In India, too, theatre and dance have roots connecting them to the sacred stories and rituals of this ancient culture,
and the artists who practice sacred dance and drama are highly respected. Like a shaman,1 the actor can lead the audience to witness and experience the expansive scope of human existence, or the most intimate and personal. In live theatre, the audience participates in the creation of that night’s performance. In film, while there may be previews in which the creative team surveys the audience’s responses and changes the film through cuts or even shooting additional scenes, the audience response will not affect the actors’ performance.2
