Theatre Quotes
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- " We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in which the action takes place, but employs and encourages those thoughts and feelings which help transform the field itself."
- Bertolt Brecht
- " Audiences know what to expect. . . and that is all they are prepared to believe in."
- Tom Stoppard
- " Good theater anywhere is good for theater everywhere."
- Frank Schneeberger
- " I don't care if people think I'm an overactor. People who think that would call Van Gogh an overpainter."
- Jim Carey
- " We've put a man on the moon. If you miss a cue, no one will die."
- Shelli Aderman
- " You ask my advice about acting? Speak clearly, don't bump into the furniture and if you must have motivation, think of your pay packet on Friday."
- Noel Coward
Source: www.musicals101.com/noelquot.htm
- " I will accept anything in the theatre . . . provided it amuses or moves me. But if it does neither, I want to go home."
- Noel Coward
Source: www.musicals101.com/noelquot.htm
- " It's no use to go and take courses in playwriting any more than it's much use taking courses in acting. Better play to a bad matinee in Hull - it will teach you much more than a year of careful instruction. Come to think of it, I never did play to a good matinee in Hull . . ."
- Noel Coward
Source: www.musicals101.com/noelquot.htm
- " THEATRE LOGIC In is down, down is front, out is up, up is back, off is out, on is in, and of course - right is left, and left is right. A drop shouldn't and a block and fall does neither. A prop doesn't and a cove has no water. Tripping is O.K. A running crew rarely gets anywhere. A purchase line will buy you nothing. A trap will not catch anything. A gridiron has nothing to do with football. A Strike is work (in fact a lot of work). And a green room, thank God, usually isn't. Now that you are fully versed in theatrical terms, Break a leg... but not really!"
- Unknown
- " I would like to be going all over the kingdom...and acting everywhere. There's nothing in the world equal to seeing the house rise at you, one sea of delightful faces, one hurrah of applause!"
- Charles DIckens
- " I think the best shows are always the ones where the elements come together very well and where the intention is realized. These are the shows in which what you set out do is what you end up with. Through very fortunate circumstances, like the combination of a good director, a good cast, and other people designing, you all manage to end up at the point that you intended when you started out. Nothing is ever perfect and there are always things that you'd perhaps do differently but I think that as long as you get a sense of fulfillment from a show then it is going to be a good experiences. [Christina Poddubiuk, Set and Costume designer]"
- Christina Poddubiuk
Source: http://www.artsalive.ca
- " Don't let a single comic moment pass you by; then help the audience get the laughs. Give them permission to laugh by holding for laughter and by letting them know early on what they're in for. In the first few moments, the audience is gathering information, looking at the scenery and costumes. Create a comic moment as soon as you can."
- James Carver
Source: Stage Directions Guide to Directing
- " In comedy, beware the split focus. The audience should focus on the face of the actor. The audience must see the setup. If there is action elsewhere on the stage, the comic line can be lost."
- James Carver
Source: Stage Directions Guide to Directing
- " One of the issues peculiar to community theater is dealing with inexperienced or outright bad actors who are so unimaginative, so lacking in energy, that no matter what devices you use, you just don't seem to be helping them that much. They will improve. It is your rseponsibility that the actor should ever feel that he or she has failed."
- Ann Jellicoe
Source: Stage Directions Guide to Directing
- " Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand."
- Chinese Proverb
- " I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement."
- Charles Schwab
- " I think that the first thing that I learned about lighting design was that there are no real rules involved and that as long as I remembered this then my lighting would remain fresh and interesting to me and hopefully to the audience and to the people that I collaborate with."
- Jock Munro
Source: http://www.artsalive.ca
- " Theatre is interesting because it's a very collaborative process. Typically I'm working with a director, a set designer, a costume designer and a sound designer too. That means that there are a number of perspectives that are brought into any particular script. Typically the director has the final say in where we go conceptually with a piece but we all have an opportunity to influence that direction and typically that direction is based on the script. As such, my studies in english and philosophy have enriched my ability to take a look at a text and react to it in my own way so that I can bring to the table what I consider to be an informed perspective. Then we negotiate the project's process and it's always quite enriching. Projects basically come out of a bond of trust that you have created. As I have progressed throughout my career I have gravitated to people who I feel a common bond with; who I seem to be able to communicate with. We establish a trust and then we go about our project. Very often I will work with someone for three or four years and we will have a particularly creative time and then, for whatever reasons, we will go our separate ways and new bonds will be established. It's an extremely communal approach to the arts. [Lighting designer Jock Munro]"
- Jock Munro
Source: http://www.artsalive.ca
- " I find that kids who take conventional approaches whereby they study in theatre schools and then become assistants to established artists at various reputed institutions like Stratford and the National Arts Centre have a kind of fast-track to the knowledge process. Very often they become very useful to the institutions for their knowledge. At the same time they are often are denied the fundamental experiences that you get when you are actually producing your own theatre and making decisions yourself among your own peers. I think it's really important to place more emphasis on that than on getting a formal training. You can probably successfully, after you've gotten the buzz and you've become intoxicated if you want to enhance your knowledge in certain areas then it's worthwhile to go back to the institutions and find a niche. I found my niche though being a stagehand. You can be an assistant. You can be a production assistant. I think the key is to be around people who really, truly love what they are doing first, although they might not necessarily know what they are doing. [Lighting designer Jock Munro]"
- Jock Munro
Source: http://www.artsalive.ca
- " If you do a certain amount of work on your own before consulting with the director then the process starts with the script. I tend to do a certain amount of my own work before I go into a first meeting. It is important to be open minded in your first meeting with a director but I like to be well-prepared for that meeting because sometimes that time with your director can be limited. At the time of that first meeting, I will have read the play several times and from different points of view. I might read the play once to just check how many costume changes there are. I will read it again to make a prop list. I will read it again to analyse where the entrances and exits are and also to imagine where the furniture will be. It's difficult to concentrate on all of these things in one reading so I go through these processes in separate readings. Once you have that under your belt, depending on the period of the production, I guess I start to do visual research based on my response to the text. Depending on where and when I might choose to look at photography of the period or I might choose to look at painting or I might just look at history books and look for thematic influences. That's the start and having done that you team up with your director and see what their response is to those ideas you have and then you start to form a stronger direction. [Christina Poddubiuk, Set and Costume designer]"
- Christina Poddubiuk
Source: http://www.artsalive.ca