This article argues that fan studies has typically neglected theatre as an object of fandom, whilst theatre studies has, in turn, marginalised audience and fan studies. Challenging these structuring invisibilities, I will consider how fandom has been discursively constructed in the theatre »field« (Bourdieu 1993). Media fandom has often been positioned as external to the world of theatre, or discursively limited to commercial productions such as West End/Broadway shows, especially musicals.
Contra such assumptions, I will analyze discourses of fandom within the theatrical field, considering how generational and media-technological developments have supported a fan-like »participatory culture« with regard to both highly commercial and ›legitimate‹ forms of popular theatre.

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