Eric de Kuyper and Emile Poppe discuss the effect of the performing arts on spectators of traditional performing arts, such as opera, drama and ballet, on the basis of various themes. Contemporary and more popular forms are also discussed, such as circus, musicals, festivals, street theater, mime and even ‘garden art’. In Theatraliteit, De Kuyper and Poppe show us a unique historical route of the world of imagination: from the Baroque to the present with flashbacks to Antiquity. They illustrate their considerations with many examples in the text and hundreds of images. Don’t expect a history of theater texts: Theatricaliteit shows in full the sources of our contemporary perception of everything that is shown in theater and performing arts.