Audience studies in theatre, despite their expansion in recent decades, remain one of the most challenging areas of theatre theory. While contemporary theorists—from Susan Bennett to Erika Fischer-Lichte—have sought to redefine the role of the spectator within the performance event, classical Eastern approaches to spectatorship have received comparatively little attention in cross-cultural and comparative research.
The aim of this article is to examine the concept of the autopoietic feedback loop in Erika Fischer-Lichte’s aesthetics of performance and to compare it with models of audience interaction articulated in key theoretical texts of classical Eastern theatre, namely the Nāṭyaśāstra attributed to Bharata and Zeami Motokiyo’s treatises (including Fūshikaden and Kakyo). The central question of the article is: in what ways do Bharata’s and Zeami’s approaches to performer–spectator interaction converge with or diverge from Fischer-Lichte’s notion of the autopoietic feedback loop?
This qualitative study employs a descriptive–analytical method and focuses on three fundamental components of the autopoietic feedback loop—role reversal, community-building, and contact—examining them in relation to audience-centred approaches in Sanskrit theatre and Japanese Noh. The findings indicate profound affinities between these theatrical systems in their emphasis on a “live, community-generating relation” among bodies present in performance. At the same time, significant cultural differences emerge: whereas Eastern traditions foreground inner transformation and the spiritual dimension of performance, Fischer-Lichte’s Western perspective highlights the transient, unpredictable and processual nature of performer–spectator interaction. Ultimately, by bringing together perspectives from distinct historical periods and cultural contexts, this comparison enables a convergent dialogue between East and West and opens up a new horizon for rethinking performer–spectator relations within a global theatre landscape.