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I enjoy all forms of writing, but playwrighting is what made me what I am. Not only working with the ghosts of Chekhov and Ibsen and Shakespeare, but what it is to be a playwright, to be interacting with human beings in the live theater and affect people on such a direct, emotional level.

I am not, at heart, a playwright.

I grew up wanting to be a writer for theatre.

In many ways, theatre is more rewarding for a writer. I used to think it was like painting a wall - that when the play is finished, it's done - but now I realise it's more like gardening; you plant the thing, then you have to constantly tend it. You're part of a thing that's living.

I thought I wanted to be a playwright because I was interested in stories and telling stories.

As a playwright, you are a torturer of actors and of the audience as well. You inflict things on people.

The economics of being a playwright are abysmal. I like to think of the work I do out in Hollywood as a way to actually make a life in the theater easier.

You can't be a playwright without believing there's an audience for adventurous work.