American Theater Quotes

Edward Albee, the premier dark playwright of the American theater, would show up at rehearsal and quote his favorite lines from 'Auntie Mame'. He would stand at the back of the theater, not facing the stage, and sort of conduct the music of his play.

I did my Doctorate on the House Un-American Activities Committee's effect on the American theater.

August [Wilson] elevates in us is the average man in a way that is heroic and real and human. What you do is you sit with our pathology, you invest in our humanity. We're not walking around like walking symbols like we mean something larger. We're just moving throughout our lives and that's the power of the piece. That's revolutionary.

If you really want to help the American theater, don't be an actress, dahling. Be an audience.

Denver's commitment to giving contemporary storytellers the stage is crucial to the American theater. That's something embraced by 'Smash.' We should be telling our own stories.

There are two strains, I think, in American playwriting, of importance. One is traditional narrative realism, which is definitely my strain, and then the other great contribution is American musical theater, which is a whole other kettle of fish.

My generation of director has no illusions that we are going to be fed and cared for by subsidized theater in America.

Eugene O'Neil created an American theater, and Tennessee Williams taught it how to sing.

I want to create a theater that looks, feels, and smells like America.

on the whole the American theater, dominated by men, does not perceive women fighting for their lives as a central issue.

My favorite actresses were Geraldine Paige, Anne Bancroft and Kim Stanley.

If the Tony Awards want to remain relevant in the American theater conversation, then they need to embrace the true diversity of voices that populate the American theater.

Because I'm an American woman, and I write straight plays, it's always been sort of assumed I would never be done on Broadway. But that was never the goal.

There's no American playwright after 1945 who wasn't profoundly affected - who didn't have their DNA changed by Tennessee Williams.

Coming up through the theater in America, while I have had success, I have had success in certain types of roles.

I don't know what we did without Velcro in the American theater. It's a miracle substance! People had long intermissions, probably.

The truth is that a lot of plays aren't political at all. In American theater history, political theater has tended to crop up when there's a crisis, a national crisis.

At this point the theater America is in such a precarious place.

I think every theater in America wants a younger audience... and you can't just hope to have a younger audience, you have to program things that audience is going to connect with.

The musical theater is a glorious and distinctly American innovation in the history of theater.

What the American public wants in the theater is a tragedy with a happy ending.

I think American actors are much more intimidated by Shakespeare. I actually want to do this Shakespeare play in New York, but I think it's interesting that there's this gaping hole in the repertoire in the American theater, which is Shakespeare. It's hardly ever done, compared to how often it's done in other companies, not just Britain. Someone from the Roundabout Theater Company - I said, "You never do Shakespeare." And he said, "Yes, we're not very good at it." And I thought, "What a terrible thing to say.".