In the theater the audience wants to be surprised but by things that they expect

In the theater the audience wants to be surprised but by things that they expect

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.

For my part, I confess I seldom listen to the players: one has so much to do, in looking about read more

For my part, I confess I seldom listen to the players: one has so much to do, in looking about and finding out one's acquaintance, that, really, one has no time to mind the stage. One merely comes to meet one's friends, and show that one's alive.

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.

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.

Coughing in the theater is not a respiratory ailment. It is a criticism.

Coughing in the theater is not a respiratory ailment. It is a criticism.

The center of the stage is where I am.

The center of the stage is where I am.

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.

To save the theatre, the theatre must be destroyed, the actors and actresses must all die of the plague. They read more

To save the theatre, the theatre must be destroyed, the actors and actresses must all die of the plague. They poison the air, they make art impossible. It is not drama that they play, but pieces for the theatre. We should return to the Greeks, play in the open air; the drama dies of stalls and boxes and evening dress, and people who come to digest their dinner.