For an upcoming special section, the editors of PRS are seeking research that uses performance as an analytical method to understand the structure, function, use, meaning, or affects of classical religious, philosophical or religious texts. The problem of how to ‘activate’ classical texts for contemporary readers is difficult, and in recent decades, some scholars, artists and religious professionals have turned to making their own live performances responding to classical texts—in a wide variety of forms and settings—as a means of doing so. In this work, they often are forced to make complex decisions that highlight the assumptions, meanings, and consequences embedded in these texts that may not be as visible to the non-performative reader.