“Any play that makes an audience think out of the box, that makes connections to life and names our pain and by doing so makes our pain subject to thinking and the process of understanding, is doing something inherently political. By promoting understanding, by putting experience in context, by making connections between the normal and the rational, theatre is an act of anti-terrorism. It stimulates courage and a survival spirit. In that sense of political, there are a lot of serious plays doing their work in the world.” ThinkingWorldPlayPainPoliticalSpiritNamesProcessUnderstandingAudienceSubjectsSeriousNormalSurvivalConnectionsBoxesTerrorismTheatreRationalPromotingAnti Terrorism Author:John Lahr
“First and foremost, I'd say my father, Bert Lahr ... gave me a love of theatre--its kinetic and emotional potential and its raffish backstage fun--and also set an artistic example of the importance of corrupting an audience with pleasure.” FirstsFatherFunPleasureAudienceExampleEmotionalImportanceTheatreArtistic Author:John Lahr
“A prose writer never sees a reader walk out of a book; for a playwright, it's another matter. An audience is an invaluable education. In my experience, theatre artists don't know what they've made until they've made it.” KnowsMadeBookMatterArtistWalksAudienceReaderTheatreMade ItProsePlaywrightInvaluable Author:John Lahr
“Dame Edna is that rarest sighting in our time of the absolute comic, an inspired personification of caprice whose comedy answered the primal call to take the audience for a tumble.” AudienceComedyAbsolutesInspiredComicOur TimePrimalDamesCapricePersonification Author:John Lahr
“Theatre is a game of hide-and-seek. For both the hiders and the seekers, the thrill is in the discovery. When the rules of the game are too vague or too complicated, however, the audience can lose its urge to play; the prize no longer seems quite worth the hunt.” PlaySeemsGamesLosesAudienceDiscoveryComplicatedTheatreUrgesPrizeVagueThrillHuntsSeekersHide And SeekRules Of The Game Author:John Lahr
