Setting the stage: liturgy and theatre

At the outset it is recognized that theatre is diverse and constantly evolving and therefore elusive in definition. Liturgical worship, similarly, presents itself in many forms. The constraints of an article-length exploration necessarily lead us to focus on liturgical worship in a cathedral context, and most of the comparisons with theatre focus on it in its mainstream Western form. This article does not pretend to be exhaustive, but raises some parallels and contrasts which we offer to the wider Church as a starting point for further exploration.