Live streaming as co-performance: Dynamics between center and periphery in theatrical engagement

Live streaming is a highly participatory form of performance, involving various types of audience participation such as liking, commenting, and gifting. But how do streamers and audiences collaborate to deliver live streaming performances? We approach this question through an interview study with 30 spectators and eight streamers in China. Drawing from theatrical engagement research, we use the cogitative spatial concept of center-peripheral attention of the audience to analyze the complex interplay between streamers and spectators, where the former occupy the center and the latter the periphery. We then discuss the orchestration of the center and the periphery, where streamers and spectators coordinate their respective performances, as well as the interaction between the center and the periphery, where the center-periphery distinction blurs. Based on these findings, we discuss co-performance as a theatrical metaphor for understanding live streaming and audience engagement.