...plays that reflect the experiences of a lot of people in this country.

"...I write American plays that reflect the experiences of a lot of people in this country. Or rather, I just write human dramas (usually in a comedic manner) that I hope most people can relate to."

-Yussef El Guindi

I work on the edge of disaster...

"I work on the edge of disaster a lot, and eventually it turns. It's nerve-wracking because you don't know when that'll happen,"

-Donyale Werle

...transform people's lives.

"...theatre can and should transform people's lives."

From
The Cleveland Connection
AN INTERVIEW BY TONY BROWN
AMERICAN THEATRE
September 2012

...I speak to individuals, not crowds.

"I prefer the smaller venues. I speak to individuals, not crowds."

-Athol Fugard

...he fantasized about writing, directing, and designing his own plays, but he "let go of that impulse,...

"Kushner agrees: "I worry about the weakening of my concentration on the tasks of the playwright," he reasons. There is, he confesses, also a pragmatic reason behind this separation of powers. "With the first production of ANGELS IN AMERICA, I surprised myself at how little help I could actually be." In his early days he fantasized about writing, directing and designing his own plays, but he "let go of that impulse, especially as I came to understand that what scenic designers do is really much more difficult than what I naively thought.""

From
The Scenic Route
by Stuart Miller
AMERICAN THEATRE
July/August 2012

...what theatre could be, and say, and do.

"O'Neill heard particular sounds in his head...both O'Neill and Shakespeare had really gargantuan notions of what theatre could be, and say, and do. The variety of ideas, their richness, the size of their vision...you really have to go up the mountain with these guys. And they're always ahead of you. You can't try to reduce them to your level. O'Neill is a genius, no question in my mind. It's really something to get up in the morning and work with a genius."

From
MICHAEL KAHN: THE SOUNDS IN O'NEILL'S HEAD
AN INTERVIEW BY HUNTER STYLES
AMERICAN THEATRE
July/August 2012

...critical about things that they do not know about or understand.

Some people have a tendency to be critical about things that they do not know about or understand.