This article argues that diffraction sits at the heart of the affective experience of being in audience. By combining affect theory, new materialism and feminist psychoanalysis, I establish diffraction as a metaphor for grappling with the unnameable 'in-between' of affect and performance, and use performative writing to illustrate the intra-active affective attachments that are formed – only to dissolve again – in moments of performance.

By entering into an affective engagement with the audience, theatre and performance's diffractive potential opens up in both cerebral and affective forms: subjects become not-subjects and not-objects; light and shadow takes on meaning in both body and mind; language moves through a multiplicity of forms. In short, theatre and performance's diffraction opens out into affect. Affect, in turn, moves through, around and within bodies, with these new affective realities diffract into feelings, emotions and thoughts that are carried out into public life.

Borrowing from Peggy Phelan's (1997 Phelan, Peggy (1997) Mourning Sex: Performing public memories, London and New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]) performative writing, this paper uses performative, diffractive writing (and, therefore, urges performative and diffractive reading) in order to evoke the affective experience of being in audience. This matching of form and content aims to disrupt the phallogocentrism inherent to academic writing, offering something 'more-than'. By circling with and around affect, writing, and performance, I am arguing for diffraction not just as a mode of critical inquiry, but a leaky, affective, performative methodology.

本文认为，衍射是观众情感体验的核心。通过结合情感理论，新的唯物主义和女权主义的心理分析，我确立了绕射作为隐喻，以解决情感和表演之间的无名“中间”现象，并使用表演写作来说明形成的活动中情感依恋–仅在表演时再次溶解。

通过与观众进行情感互动，戏剧和表演的衍射潜能以大脑和情感形式开放：主体成为非主体和非客体；光与影在身体和心灵上都具有意义；语言通过多种形式移动。简而言之，戏剧和表演的差异会产生影响。这些新的情感现实反过来会在身体中，周围和内部移动，这些情感会渗透到在公共生活中实现的感觉，情感和思想中。

从Peggy Phelan's（1997 佩兰·佩吉（Phelan，Peggy）（1997年）《哀悼性：表演公共记忆》，伦敦和纽约：Routledge。 [Google Scholar]）表演性写作，本文使用表演性，差异性写作（因此，要求表演性和差异性阅读）来唤起观众的情感体验。形式和内容的这种匹配旨在破坏学术写作固有的精神中心主义，提供“超越”的东西。通过盘绕情感，写作和表演，我认为衍射不仅仅是一种批判性的询问方式，而且是一种漏水的，情感的，表演性的方法论。