Ideas Emerge From Plays, Not

It's Hard To Explain Why Exactly, But I Think That When I Began Writing Plays, It Was From An Actor's Point Of View More Than Anything. I Had The Feeling That If You Put Yourself In The Position Of The Actor On Stage And Write From That Perspective, It Would Give You A Certain Advantage In Terms Of Being Inside Of The Play.

My First Job Was With The Burns Detective Agency. They Sent Me Over To The East River To Guard Coal Barges During These God-awful Hours Like Three To Six In The Morning. It Wasn't A Very Difficult Job -- All I Had To Do Was Make A Round Every Fifteen Minutes -- But It Turned Out To Be A Great Environment For Writing. I Was Completely Alone In A Little Outhouse With An Electric Heater And A Little Desk.

When You're Looking For Someone, You're Looking For Some Aspect Of Yourself, Even If You Don't Know It ... What We're Searching For Is What We Lack.

The Fantastic Thing About The Theatre Is That It Can Make Something Be Seen That's Invisible, And That's Where My Interest In Theatre Is- That You Can Be Watching This Thing Happening With Actors And Costumes And Light And Set And Language, And Even Plot, And Something Emerges From Beyond That, And That's The Image Part That I'm Looking For, That Sort Of Added Dimension.

Sides Are Being Divided Now. It's Very Obvious. So If You're On The Other Side Of The Fence, You're Suddenly Anti-american. It's Breeding Fear Of Being On The Wrong Side.