1509 quotes by playwrights for you to enjoy

I think all of my writing life led up to the writing of 'The Train Driver' because it deals with my own inherited blindness and guilt and all of what being a white South African in South Africa during those apartheid years meant. Athol Fugard

Life Writing Guilt South Africa Own White Think Those My Own Driver Because Blindness Deals Years South Led South African Up Train Africa African Being Apartheid Meant Inherited

My essential identity is that of a writer. Athol Fugard

Writer Identity Essential

Creativity is very selfish. Scandalously so, in fact. Athol Fugard

Selfish Creativity Fact Very In Fact

For most of my writing life, I've refused to allow myself to believe that writing was a significant form of action. I always felt very uneasy about the fact that all I did was write in a situation as desperate as apartheid South Africa. Whether I was correct or not is a different issue. Athol Fugard

Life Myself Writing Desperate South Africa Situation Action Believe Correct Significant About Fact Write Allow Most Felt Always Issue South Very Uneasy Did Refused Africa Different Form Whether Apartheid

I've had one experience of writer's block in my life, and it was living hell. It was a terror for me. Athol Fugard

Life Me Experience My Life Hell Living Writer Had Terror Block

There are times in my 30 years in the theater that I have come perilously close to losing faith in the one form of action I have in this life. Athol Fugard

Life Faith Losing Action Come Years Close Times Form Theater

I don't write particularly to effect social change. I believe writing can do that, but that's not why I write. August Wilson

Change Writing Believe Write Particularly Effect Social Social Change Why

From Borges, those wonderful gaucho stories from which I learned that you can be specific as to a time and place and culture and still have the work resonate with the universal themes of love, honor, duty, betrayal, etc. From Amiri Baraka, I learned that all art is political, although I don't write political plays. August Wilson

Work Love Art Time You Culture Wonderful Political Resonate Honor Duty Those Betrayal Write Learned Although Still Stories Place Which Etc Themes Specific Universal Plays

I think the blues is the best literature that we as blacks have created since we've been here. I call it our 'sacred book.' What I've attempted to do is to mine that field, to mine those cultural ideas and attitudes and give them to my characters. August Wilson

My plays are ultimately about love, honor, duty, betrayal. August Wilson

Love Honor Duty About Betrayal Ultimately Plays

How do we transform loss? ... Time's healing balm is essentially a hoax. August Wilson

Time Healing How Loss Balm Hoax Essentially Transform

Between speeches and awards, you can find something to do every other week. It's hard to write. Your focus gets splintered. Once you put one thing in your calendar, that month is gone. August Wilson

I think all in all, one thing a lot of plays seem to be saying is that we need to, as black Americans, to make a connection with our past in order to determine the kind of future we're going to have. In other words, we simply need to know who we are in relation to our historical presence in America. August Wilson

Future Saying Words Black Past Think Other Relation Our Kind Black Americans One Thing Seem Determine Simply Know Make Lot Historical America American Going Order In Other Words Who Connection Thing Presence Need Plays

I've seen some terrible plays, but I generally enjoy myself. One play I walked out of, I have a tremendous respect for the author. That was Robert Wilson, something called 'Network,' which consisted of Wilson sitting on a bunk, the dialogue of the movie 'Network' looped in while a chair on a rope went up and down. August Wilson

Myself Respect Seen Down Enjoy Tremendous Tremendous Respect Out Wilson Some Something Network Generally Robert Terrible Dialogue Up Up And Down Walked Bunk Author Sitting Movie Which While Rope Chair Play Plays

Anything you want to know, you ask the characters. August Wilson

You Characters Know Want Anything Ask

As soon as white folks say a play's good, the theater is jammed with blacks and whites. August Wilson

Good White Say Folks Blacks Soon Theater Whites Play

I know some things when I start. I know, let's say, that the play is going to be a 1970s or a 1930s play, and it's going to be about a piano, but that's it. I slowly discover who the characters are as I go along. August Wilson

Say Characters Some Slowly Some Things About Piano Along Know Go Discover Going Who Play Things Start

I work as an artist, and I think the audience of one, which is the self, and I have to satisfy myself as an artist. So I always say that I write for the same people that Picasso painted for. I think he painted for himself. August Wilson

Work Myself People Think Say Write Self Picasso He Himself Audience Always Same Artist Which Painted Satisfy

I don't write for a particular audience. August Wilson

Write Particular Audience

In 1977, I wrote a series of poems about a character, Black Bart, a former cattle rustler-turned-alchemist. A good friend, Claude Purdy, who is a stage director, suggested I turn the poems into a play. August Wilson

Good Character Director Black Stage About Poems Wrote Cattle Friend Former Turn Who Bart Series Play Good Friend Suggested

In 1980 I sent a play, 'Jitney,' to the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, won a Jerome Fellowship, and found myself sitting in a room with sixteen playwrights. I remember looking around and thinking that since I was sitting there, I must be a playwright, too. August Wilson

From Romare Bearden I learned that the fullness and richness of everyday life can be rendered without compromise or sentimentality. August Wilson

Life Everyday Life Everyday Compromise Rendered Learned Without Sentimentality Richness Fullness

I dropped out of school when I was 15 years old. I dropped out because I guess I wasn't getting anything out of my investment in the school. August Wilson

School Old Guess Out Investment Dropped Because Years Getting Anything

Quotes by Playwrights