Collective effervescence mediates the effect of individual emotion on spectators' enjoyment of theatrical performances

Theatre is a multisecular, social and aesthetic experience. As such, it presents a promising ground to explore the collective and emotional bases of audience enjoyment. In this framework, our goal was to investigate the relationship between individual emotion, collective effervescence and enjoyment of theatrical plays. For this purpose, we measured the subjective experiences of 621 spectators in real-life settings, as part of large audiences ranging from 100 to 900 spectators. Data were collected on two different plays across a total of thirty-four representations in local and national French theatres in 2023. Linear regression models indicated that the subjective feeling of collective effervescence varied with spectators’ empathic traits and significantly predicted their enjoyment of the play. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that collective effervescence partially mediated the effect of individual emotions on enjoyment. These results provide the first evidence of collective effervescence in theatre, and support our hypothesis that the collective dimension of theatrical events contributes to the audience’s enjoyment, even when accounting for individual emotions and traits. This study offers promising grounds to shed light on the social nature of theatrical experiences, and to deepen our understanding of emotional dynamics among large groups in ecological settings.