“The great writers like Chekhov know that tragedy and laughter are just a few steps from each other ... but it took me a long time as an actress to learn that. Actually Arthur Miller taught me in the Seventies. We were making a CBS TV drama of his play Playing for Time about Auschwitz but the characters were laughing. It was a big insight for me to realise that that was what's called gallows humour, in this case worse than the gallows, that humans need to laugh and make jokes in order to survive.” KnowsNeedsHumansLongPlayCharacterBigsOrderStepsCasesLaughingTaughtHumourTvsDramaLong TimeLaughterJokesTragedyInsightActressesRealisingSeventiesGreat WritersArthurAuschwitzChekhovGallows Author:Vanessa Redgrave
“Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of kings - stories that taught us of the danger of hubris and the primacy of humility.” StoriesFatherStarsCenturyDangerHumilityTaughtSonHugeKingsHeroLoversDramaAncientExpandingTaught UsHubrisFather And SonStar Crossed LoversPrimacyMartyredPantheon Author:Tom Hiddleston
“I think working on Shakespeare was a big part of my time at drama school. I'm so glad that I got to know Shakespeare and got a chance to play great parts in Shakespeare, because it really teaches you - or taught me, anyway - everything.” ThinkingKnowsPlayBigsSchoolChanceTeachTaughtDramaGladMy Time Author:Andre Holland
“I wasn't good at examinations, but I went to a very good secondary school - Bolton-on-Dearne - with wonderful teachers, who taught me drama and encouraged me in every way.” WaySchoolTeacherWonderfulTaughtDramaVery GoodExaminationSecondary SchoolWonderful Teacher Author:Brian Blessed
“The headmistress was a very well-respected theater teacher. She taught me what stage left and stage right were, what a director was, and what all these things meant, which was something I had no concept of. She sent me off to drama school, at age 18, and I stayed there for three years. Before I knew it, I was working on a TV show.” YearsWellsShowsAgeSchoolThreeLeftTeacherStageTaughtTvsDramaDirectorsConceptsTheaterThree YearsTv ShowsHeadmistress Author:Robert Kazinsky
“I asked a girl who came from America to England, when I was only English, and she admitted she had been to a drama school. And I said, "What did they teach you?" And she said, "They taught me to be a candle burning in an empty room." I'm happy to say she was laughing while she said it, but she meant it. I've never learned to be a candle burning in an empty room. So I go on the screen, and I say whatever I'm told to say.” SaidSchoolAmericaGirlRoomsTeachLaughingTaughtGoes OnDramaEmptyEnglandScreensBurningCandleEmpty RoomsCandles Burning Author:Quentin Crisp
“The main question in drama, the way I was taught, is always, 'What does the protagonist want?' That's what drama is. It comes down to that. It's not about theme, it's not about ideas, it's not about setting, but what the protagonist wants.” WayWantDoeIdeasTaughtDramaSettingSettingsThemeProtagonists Author:David Mamet
“The thing a drama school can't give you is instinct. It can sharpen instinct but that can't be taught, and you have to have intuition. It's an essential ingredient.” GivingSchoolTaughtDramaEssentialsInstinctIntuitionIngredients Author:Gary Oldman
“An actor is looking for conflict. Conflict is what creates drama. We are taught to avoid trouble [so] actors don't realize they must go looking for it. Plays are written about...the extraordinary, the unusual, the climaxes. The more conflict actors find, the more interesting the performance.” PlayActorsRealizingInterestingActingWrittenTroubleTaughtDramaConflictPerformancesExtraordinaryUnusualClimax Author:Michael Shurtleff
“One was never taught how to begin at drama school. But all it required was one intake of breath.” SchoolTaughtDramaBreaths Author:Elaine Paige