This book develops a new theory of liveness and presence, drawing on Zeami’s 15th-century treatises on nō theatre. It addresses what it means for something to be the real thing, in real time, and why it matters. Rather than making technical distinctions between media, critiquing liveness as ontologically impossible, or approaching it as merely subjective, Leo Marko defines the live through sense-making and ineffability. Via recent debates in performance studies, Zeami’s ideas of how the ”flower” depends on secrecy, and examples ranging from nō to Darth Vader and pop lyrics, ”live sense” is conceptualized as an appreciation of situated, aesthetic and undefinable meaning.