Paul Rae is Associate Professor in Theatre Studies at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of Theatre and Human Rights (2009). He has published widely on contemporary theatre and on Asia-Pacific performance cultures, and from 2015–18 was Senior Editor of the journal Theatre Research International.

• Introduction: the reality of theatre; Part I: 1. Realtheatrick: material theatres and ordinary magic; 2. That's entertainment: theatre and experience; Part II: 3. Theatre talk: the poetics of theatre at a distance; 4. Peak performance and the construction of theatrical truths; 5. Infratheatre: what theatre is when it's not quite theatre; 6. The theatre assembled: technical theatre in performance; 7. Theatre people: the actor and the unaccommodated man; Conclusion: real theatre studies?

'Real Theatre is an elegant and entertaining read that makes a major contribution to debates around the realities of making - and watching - theatre. This is a book characterized by its willingness to engage seriously with the mass cultural forms of theatre that are so often overlooked by scholars, offering an analysis of the sophisticated ways in which audiences consume performance. A genuinely original and energetic approach to how we might conceptualise the theatre event, this book is a humane and richly insightful account of the peculiar realities that comprise theatrical performance.' Aoife Monks, Queen Mary University of London