“I did spend about 5 years in the Griffin Theatre Company in 1978 actually , and worked therefore about 5 years on a voluntary basis. This was very much as a amateur, doing things like mopping the floor, handling props, setting up scenery, etc. I never acted, and don't think I'm an actor, but those years in the theatre taught me a lot about professional theatre.” ThinkingYearsActorsCompanyTaughtBasesTheatreSettingSettingsEtcPropsSceneryMopping Author:Robert Dessaix
“I think that a lot of people do have a physical Ithaca, but I don't think that I do and I think that a lot of people do not. This depends on your values and the circumstances of your life. My Ithaca is in the Mental realm and this doesn't mean that you don't have to go back to it.” PeopleThinkingMeanValuesDependsCircumstancesRealms Author:Robert Dessaix
“There is a mental space that we consciously makes our way back to, and give honour to what has formed us in this mental homeland which we carry with us always. It is important not to try to annihilate it but to take your courage in your hands and go back, and then I think you can more easily make a new beginning. A lot of us would like to know how to do this.” ThinkingKnowsWayGivingTryingImportantHandsSpaceKnow HowHonourNew BeginningsHomeland Author:Robert Dessaix
“I think that in this globalised world, the local is going to become more and more important - it is a paradox. You see it in Western Europe more and more. Eastern Europe is still coming out of the Soviet uniform cultural era, but this kind of separation and nationalism is very obvious now in Western Europe.” ThinkingWorldKindStillsImportantEuropeWesternObviousSeparationLocalsErasNationalismParadoxComing OutSovietUniformsEasternEastern EuropeWestern Europe Author:Robert Dessaix
“I think it is an important question of our lives - what is the meaning of literature to us as humans.” ThinkingHumansImportantLiteratureOur LivesImportant QuestionsWhat Is The Meaning Author:Robert Dessaix
“When I re-read the Odyssey, it felt like I was reading PD James or Minette Walters - you feel that you are sharing in something that hundreds of millions of people have read with love, and I think that this is worth holding onto. It is not a matter of canonical texts or elitism, which the universities are trying to make us wary about. It is about shared language and metaphor and experience and imagery and that is all good.” PeopleThinkingFeelsTryingMatterReadingLanguageFeltMillionsUniversityMetaphorImageryHolding OnElitismOdyssey Author:Robert Dessaix
“A form of art that I like is portraiture. I've been thinking about portraiture, and its relationship to writing and literature, biography and autobiography, and so that will be my next thing.” ThinkingWritingArtFormNextLiteratureAutobiographyBiographiesPortraiture Author:Robert Dessaix
