I'm really into the irony of writing vaguely radical plays that instantly win huge establishment awards. It's really amusing.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I don't write political plays in the sense that I'm writing essays that are kind of disguised as plays. I would really defy anyone to watch any of my plays and say 'Well, here's the point.'
I'm excited about the idea of an act of theatre triggering a parallel creative act of writing.
I spent so many years of my life as a stage actor and when you do all these plays, a lot of really great plays are very politically driven. They deal with deep social issues, and that's the kind of stuff that I love, as an audience member.
Theatre can be so patronising. So often, it's just proselytising for the theatre.
It was kind of enlightening to become a playwright.
The play is one of the very few pieces of great dramatic and comic writing that I have read in a long, long time. I was drawn to it because of the power of the writing, which gives me the actor a chance to explore many facets of myself.
You have to take some dramatic license just to make it entertaining sometimes.
What I love about a play is that it's such an investment because only time can create a lot of what happens onstage.
I've seen plays that are, objectively, total messes that move me in ways that their tidier brethren do not. That's the romantic mystery of great theater. Translating this ineffability into printable prose is a challenge that can never be fully met.
You don't service a big, fun premise comedy and then shoot yourself in the foot with too much irony. You need the audience to invest in the fun and the warmth and generally care about the characters.