The theater experience is that of the perpetual present tense: it occurs, it happens. It is transitory in the fact that on stopping it stops being; unlike literature and the visual arts, which are tangible and unchanging, the essence of this is to catch something in a moment in time and freeze it; this is impossible with theater as it is a performing art, an event, and not an object.

With music, nothing persists except as it moves through time. A note cannot be held forever. Music is created by perpetual shifts of notes through repetition, variation, and the accumulation of effects. Similarly, theater occurs over time. A cumulative series of sights, sounds, and impressions creates theater.

Objects like costumes, props, scenery, and script are a part of theatre, but none constitute the art. Its permanent features are not theatrical. The script is an outline for the performance; unacted, the play remains incomplete. The experience will always be different as building occurs every time. Physical production affects the performance. The experience really lies in the performance itself.