ABSTRACT
The notion that theatre is "live" and/or happening in the "present" is firmly planted in our consciousness. This chapter demonstrates how the playwright and actors (and directors, and entire cast and crew) are able relay the feeling that many possibilities are open at any given moment, imparting the feeling of "liveness". After introducing the main threads in the conversation that has taken place surrounding liveness, the chapter examines how the dramatic text relays the feeling that many possibilities are open at any given moment. The chapter provides a case study with a close reading of Marsha Norman's 'night, Mother, the author argues that the narrative arc of traditional post-Renaissance drama displays abductive logic that works on the principle of possibility. The chapter discusses how the counterfactual is understood in the text and what the actor, then, can/may/must do to modify the counterfactual statement in order to impart a feeling of "liveness" in performance.
