Although this article takes the reviewing of three books as its starting point, it goes well beyond the confines of a book review in charting and critiquing the area of contemporary opera and experimental music theatre studies. It thus aims to contribute to the construction of a solid methodological foundation in an emerging field. This has been recognised by the journal, which labelled the piece a review-article (rather than a straight review) and published it in the main, rather than review, section.