Theater purists argue that recording a play strips it of its soul, that a play is a live, ephemeral event that should not be immortalized on a hard drive. They also correctly point out that piracy deprives the hundreds of actors, stagehands, and crew members of their livelihood.

The internet has completely changed how we consume theatre, creating a digital underground where rare performances are traded like currency. One phrase that frequently surfaces in these digital undercurrents is

Reviewers and fans often separate the "god awful" script from the live performance.