John Tiffany Quotes

I've always been very comfortable in a set environment. All the collaborating going on, seeing how actors work - it all excites me.

I have directed good actors and have gone through the process which is more detailed in theater in a way. You have to get people to stay for two or three hours in a performance. They need more talk and rehearsal than in films.

Then I left school at 16 and worked in Perth Repertory Theatre, which was quite nearby where I lived. And I worked there for about six or seven months, as part of the stage crew.

I used to clean the sets and serve tea to the artistes.

A play is not a play until it's performed, and unless it's a one-person play that is acted, directed and designed by the author, many other people will be deeply involved in the complicated process that leads to its performance.

A pilot is like the most extensive dress rehearsal you can ever imagine, because the writers are learning about the actors, the actors are learning about the characters.

An acting assistant stage manager in a theater in Canterbury, a rep theater. A small wage but just enough to get by on, and I made props and I walked on, and I changed scenery, and I realized that I just loved it.

'The Taming Of The Shrew' is probably the first time I've worked in this country for about ten years, apart from theatre, and it's not for want of trying. It was so fantastic to work in London - it felt really glamorous.

I would like to direct. What goes on behind stage is very interesting.

My first real job as a director was working with Robbie Baitz on his play 'Three Hotels.' It was an incredible collaboration.

Most film teams usually come with a tight deadline, which doesn't leave us much time to compose.

Why did I want to become a director? I just had an early interest. My uncle was an actor in a local community theatre, and he ultimately persuaded me and a buddy of mine to come to that theatre, and we went to meet girls, and that turned into interested in kind of behind-the-scenes things, and from that point on, I was focused.

So much about being a director is getting the show ready for that first preview audience. I have a lot of experience making events that only happen once; it's opening and closing night in the same three-hour span.

It's very difficult to switch back and forth between running rehearsals and then stepping in to dance in rehearsals as a dancer. Just to switch hats in an instant can be a little bit jarring, mostly physically, on the body.

I write in the booth and memorize in rehearsals.

For someone who works in theatre, the rehearsal is where you discover everything. It is where magic happens, where the script enters you and becomes part of you.

I'm not a Method actress. I work in the present, the day-to-day.

Next time I do a play, I want to go out of town. I don't like the idea of opening in New York. I don't have to do theatre, but if you're going to do it, you should do it well. These days, everything has to be up and running in five minutes. As a result, the rehearsal time is missing.

'Breaking In' shows what it's really like backstage at New York Fringe Theatre.

When you're first starting a show, any show, you learn what works and what doesn't work, and it's a kind of trial and error thing.

I had such a good experience doing 'The Understudy' with the Roundabout, and people were really enthusiastic about the work.

When I'm working in television, I've learned you've got to work fast. You don't have time to rehearse; you don't have time to just mess around. You've got to move quickly. So I pick that up from that world, and I also pick up the idea of development of character and development of situations.

I like directors who come ready to challenge you to ask the right questions about your character, and I know that directors appreciate that in actors as well.

If I focus solely on developing new material, then I can get a new 45 minute to an hour in about six months. Then I'll work on it and work on it and can make it killer within another six months or so.

I never approach an actor till I have finished the script.