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Theatre Quotes

Theatre Quotes

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Displaying 141 - 160 of 441
  • " You cannot tell an audience a lie. They know it before you do; before it's out of your mouth, they know it's a lie."

    - Elaine Stritch


  • " Audiences are not strangers to me. They're the best friends I've got in my life."

    - Elaine Stritch


  • " I have always been pushed by the negative. The apparent failure of a play sends me back to my typewriter that very night, before the reviews are out. I am more compelled to get back to work than if I had a success."

    - Tennessee Williams


  • " Why did I write? Because I found life unsatisfactory."

    - Tennessee Williams


  • " I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person. But these seemingly fragile people are the strong people, really."

    - Tennessee Williams


  • " Actors work and slave and it is the color of your hair that can determine your fate in the end."

    - Helen Hayes


  • " The worst constructed play is a Bach fugue when compared to life."

    - Helen Hayes


  • " I'm a bad liar; I don't know what to say backstage."

    - Uta Hagen


  • " Once in awhile, there's stuff that makes me say, That's what theatre's about. It has to be a human event on the stage, and that doesn't happen very often."

    - Uta Hagen


  • " Charity in the theater begins and ends with those who have a play opening within a week of one's own."

    - Moss Hart


  • " Beat to fit, paint to match."

    - Kate Bolgrien

    Source: http://www.denagy.com/techiejokes/tjokes.html


  • " I don't make mistakes, I have unintentional improvisations."

    - Anonymous


  • " In is down, down is front. Out is up, up is back. Off is out, on is in. And of course, left is right and right is left. A drop shouldn't and a 'block and fall' does neither. A prop doesn't and a cove has no water. Tripping is okay. A running crew rarely gets anywhere . A purchase line buys you nothing. A trap will not catch anything. A gridiron has nothing to do with football. Strike is work (in fact, a lot of work). And a green room, thank God, usually isn't. Now that you're fully versed in theatrical terms, break a leg. But not really."

    - Kerry Chafin

    Source: https://suite.io/kerry-chafin/2nhw2w1


  • " These performers that go on about their technique and craft - oh, puleeze! How boring! I don't know what 'technique' means. But I do know what experience is."

    - Elaine Stritch


  • " Volunteers will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no volunteers."

    - Ken Wyman


  • " Most giving is 80% emotion and 20 % rational. And the best way to get to someone's emotions is to tell a story."

    - Unknown


  • " The moment an actor walks on stage, an impression is made. The audience immediately gains crucial information, both about the production as a whole and the character. A costume is a transformation garment, one that assists an actor to beomce, for a time, someone else."

    - Kaoime Malloy

    Source: The Art of Theatrical Design


  • " A play is a series of actions. A play is not about action, nor does it describe action. Is a fire about flames? Does it describe flames? No, a fire is flames. A play is action. Why do you think actors are called actors? And action in a play occurs when something happens that makes or permits something else to happen."

    - David Ball

    Source: Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays


  • " The core challenge for us as arts managers is to deal with change: changing external environmental conditions, evolving styles and approaches to the arts by our artists, advancements iin how we present and distribute our art to our ever-changing audiences, and the shifting competition for resources and attention."

    - William J. Byrnes

    Source: Management and the Arts (Fifth Edition)


  • " The "magic if" is a tool invented by Stanislavski, the father of acting craft, is to help an actor make appropriate choices. Essentially, the "magic if" refers to the answer to the question, "What would I do if I were this character in this situation?" Note that the question is not "What would I do if I were in this situation?" What you would do may be very different from what the character would do. Your job, based on your analysis of the script, the scene, and the given circumstances regarding the who of your character, is to decide what he or she would do."

    - Bruce Miller

    Source: Acting on the Script (2014)