ABSTRACT
Why are some moments in the theatre “just electric”? What is about the audience that actors say “makes [them] spark” onstage? This chapter describes the unique climate of live theatre and the “electricity” that is transferred and reciprocated between actors and audience members through their conversations. Since the electric air is an intangible phenomenon, the chapter includes what is posited as descriptors and undercurrents of the electric air. Referring to the research of Gernot Böhme, Michael Chekhov and Jane Goodall, the electric air is described in terms of atmosphere, liveness and electricity. Some theatrical, psychological and sociological undercurrents of the electric air are explored: suspension of disbelief, the encounter, ephemerality, narrative, transference, projection, identification, empathy, presence, celebrity magnetism and community.
