The research involves a reconsideration of Christian Metz's theses on cinema spectatorship as put forward in his 'The Imaginary Signifier' (1975). It focuses on the difference between the spectator of theatre and that of cinema, thus providing a new assessment of Metz's claims. It is original in that it identifies within Metz's argument a notion of cinema spectatorship that is potentially multiple and open, rather than singular and closed. This article argues that Metz's conception relies on a notion of doubling that is central to understanding cinema's capacities in ways that contrast with spectatorship in the theatre. The research was informed by a fresh application of Lacanian psychoanalysis to Metz's conceptions. The article's additional originality lies in its interdisciplinary consideration of the relationship between cinema and theatre spectatorship. The article was cited in Barton in Essays in Theatre-Etudes Theatrales 20 (2), 2003 and C. Baker in Journal of American Culture, 29 (2) 2006. RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : LICA