Tianhao Shi

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia

Abstract：

Theatre has historically been defined by its “liveness”: the immediacy of interaction, the embodied co- presence of actors and spectators in shared space, and the resonance of collective emotion. With the advent of intelligent interaction technologies, this traditional framework faces both disruption and renewal. This paper explores how artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes theatrical forms by engaging in real-time interaction, reconfiguring spatial presence, and catalyzing new modes of emotional resonance. It argues that AI does not simply erode liveness but reconstitutes it through hybridized forms of immediacy, mediated spatiality, and algorithmically enabled feedback loops. By examining classical theories of performance and recent research into AI-driven theatre practices, the study concludes that AI functions not only as a technical augmentor but also as a performative agent, generating a transformed ontology of theatrical liveness.

Key Words：

theatre; liveness; Artificial Intelligence; intelligent interaction; performance studies; narrative reconstruction