Playwriting is the last great bastion of the individual writer. It's exciting precisely because it's where the money isn't. Money goes to safety, to consensus. It's not individualism.
Interpretation
Playwriting represents a pure expression of individual creativity, flourishing in an environment that often shuns commercial gain.
In this quote, John Patrick Shanley highlights the unique position of playwriting as a form of art that allows writers to express their individual voices and perspectives. He contrasts the world of playwriting with other forms of writing where monetary gain often influences content, suggesting that true individualism can thrive in the relatively less lucrative field of theater, where artists can take risks and innovate without the pressure of conforming to popular consensus.
In practice
In a speech at a local theater festival, one might quote this to underscore the value of artistic integrity.
I am not a courageous person by nature. I have simply discovered that, at certain key moments in this life, you must find courage in yourself, in order to move forward and live. It is like a muscle and it must be exercised, first a little, and then more and more. All the really exciting things possible during the course of a lifetime require a little more courage than we currently have. A deep breath and a leap.
I think that certainty is a closed door, It's the end of the conversation. Doubt is an open door.
I know that when I finish a drawing, my anxiety level decreases. The realistic drawings are a way of pinning down an idea. I don't want to loose it. With the abstract drawings, when I'm feeling loose, I can slip into the unconscious.
I wouldn't want everybody to be an art or literature major, but the world would be poorer - figuratively, anyway - if we were all coding software or running companies. We also want musicians to awaken our souls, writers to lead us into fictional lands, and philosophers to help us exercise our minds and engage the world.
A joyous little creature, so beautiful, It was as if a gate of Heaven opened as she came in.
Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.
The beauty of the band was you never knew what was going to come out next.
In my view, art and the approach to life through art, using it as a vehicle for education and even for doing science is so vital that it is part of a great new revolution that is taking place. I believe we are entering a whole new epoch.
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