I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theater is read more

I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theater is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture.

You need three things in the theater - the play, the actors and the audience, - and each must give read more

You need three things in the theater - the play, the actors and the audience, - and each must give something

Theater is, of course, a reflection of life. Maybe we have to improve life before we can hope to improve read more

Theater is, of course, a reflection of life. Maybe we have to improve life before we can hope to improve theater.

No theater could sanely flourish until there was an umbilical connection between what was happening on the stage and what read more

No theater could sanely flourish until there was an umbilical connection between what was happening on the stage and what was happening in the world.

The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.

The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.

The primary function of a theater is not to please itself, or even to please its audience. It is to read more

The primary function of a theater is not to please itself, or even to please its audience. It is to serve talent.

The virtue of dress rehearsals is that they are a free show for a select group of artists and friends read more

The virtue of dress rehearsals is that they are a free show for a select group of artists and friends of the author, and where for one unique evening the audience is almost expurgated of idiots.

Theatergoing is a communal act, movie going a solitary one.

Theatergoing is a communal act, movie going a solitary one.

You can throw away the privilege of acting, but that would be such a shame. The tribe has elected you read more

You can throw away the privilege of acting, but that would be such a shame. The tribe has elected you to tell its story. You are the shaman/healer, that's what the storyteller is, and I think it's important for actors to appreciate that. Too often actors think it's all about them, when in reality it's all about the audience being able to recognize themselves in you. The more you pull away from the public, the less power you have on screen.