We cannot deny that 80 or even 90 percent of the spiritual treasures from the past 3,000 years have come from Europe. There is no other Greek theatre anywhere else in the world. There is no other Shakespeare, Dante or Cervantes.
I am musical and I enjoy theatre, but I never wanted to just do theatre. I always wanted to go into film. I love film. I loved growing up in the theatre, but I always wanted to do film all along. But, I still pursue music separately.
'Miracle at St. Anna.' I was challenged by Spike Lee. When he offered me the film, he looked me square in the eye and said, 'You start this film off and you end this film. I don't want a dry eye in the theatre. Can you pull that off?' He was dead serious.
I'd been gearing up to working in theatre since coming out of drama school, but it was an exciting time for TV drama - it was the birth of Channel 4, and Brookside was very cutting-edge at the time.
Starting my career in London was no accident because the city and the industry here are all about theatre and drama, and I respond well to that.
In 1969, I wrote a musical called 'Mother Earth.' It was a rock musical with an ecology theme. We did it at the South Coast Repertory Theatre in Southern California where I was a member. It was a smash hit in this small theater.
Whether it's Shakespeare or Moliere, irony is a key component in the construction of theatre. A script would be pretty bad if it was devoid of irony.
The Apollo Theatre was a difficult audience, and if they didn't like you, they would let you know. Luckily, they liked me.
Obviously, in theatre, you work chronologically, so you kind of know where your emotions are supposed to be, and you're always on top of things, and as an actor, you always know what's coming next.
I grew up in the theatre. It's where I got my start. Writing a television drama with theatrical dialogue about the theatre is beyond perfection.
The theatre only knows what it's doing next week, not like the opera, where they say: What are we going to do in five years' time? A completely different attitude.
Normally our season is seven weeks in the Drama Theatre and four weeks in the Opera Theater.
I should write a musical. That is probably one of the final areas that I should pay attention to, because it does kind of involve everything. It's got theatre, it's got young, pretty people... And it's got money!
I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost - it's there and then it's gone.
I'm trying to do the kind of projects that I want to see in the theatre.
I've done movies with Oliver Stone and Michael Mann. And I've done quite a few dramas in my time, from the theatre to film work. I just think the audience is used to seeing me on 'Saturday Night Live,' and 'K-9,' and 'Curly Sue' and of course, 'According to Jim.' I think that my comedies have been the most popular.
I think the same way about theatre, you go out there and you are creating a world for a moment that can actually have a real impact on people, present some kind of story that gives you something to think about when you walk away, feeling enriched - if it works out well.
When two kids came along, I couldn't see how I could support them. The way it played out, I was away from the theatre for five years. I was a postie for the first part and then worked as an advertising copywriter, but I somehow found my way back.
I sometimes think the theatre is more demanding because it requires things you don't have in films, like it requires you to make the people in the front row believe you and not look an idiot to them while the people right at the back can hear you.
I think any classical training in the theatre is of enormous value.
I started acting as a child in Community Theatre but I didn't do any serious stuff. It was all musicals like 'Annie' and 'Wizard of Oz.' I was always in the chorus.
I believe if you go to a movie theatre, and you see something you think is incredible, if you walk out of the theatre and there was a bin in the lobby of DVDs of the film you just watched, you would buy four of them - one for you and three for your friends.
I sure hope there will be more theatre on television and in the movie theaters. I do have to say, the idea of theatre in movie theaters is really exciting to me.
I've been an actor for 14 years now and a lot of that time was spent in theatre and television. Then I moved to L.A. to try and build upon that and it's starting to pay off!
I come from theatre and I always go back every couple of years.
The good die young but not always. The wicked prevail but not consistently. I am confused by life, and I feel safe within the confines of the theatre.
I don't like going for more than a year without doing theatre. I don't mind falling flat on my face so long as I feel I'm open to the possibility of something extraordinary happening.
Television theatre, as is implied in its name, should rely on adaptations of scripts written for the theatre.
Theatre sports is the best improv training period.
With the theatre, for God's sake, everything makes sense. You create a clear sequential reality for a specific audience at one particular time.
When I write, I am not giving a lecture, I am speculating on behavior. Sometimes this is dangerous, but it should be. As I say often, theatre is a dark place and we should keep the light out of it.
These days, it's perfectly normal to move between the theatre and television.
Most Americans would agree that Plowshares is a Theatre of the Absurd.
I've always tried to not let movie, television or theatre be all that my life is about. I've always tried to get involved in the community or my family now I have kids.
Unless the theatre can ennoble you, make you a better person, you should flee from it.
I have done film, television and theatre - all at a pretty substantial level - I don't think it's possible for American actors to do that.
