There were not a lot of women in the theater department - it was really run by men, and so the message was that women can be onstage, but women can't really be backstage.
Lynn NottageRead
People probably have different philosophies about this, but I think that when you're first shaping the play and trying to find a character, the initial actors that develop it end up imprinting on it - you hear their voices; you hear their rhythms. You can't help but to begin to write toward them during the rehearsal process.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the influence of actors on character development in theater.
Lynn Nottage reflects on how the collaboration between playwrights and actors in the rehearsal process shapes the characters of a play. As actors bring their unique interpretations and rhythms to the roles they portray, their presence profoundly influences the writing and development of the script, highlighting the dynamic relationship between performer and playwright in the creation of a theatrical work.
Themes
TheaterActorsCharacter DevelopmentPlaywritingCollaboration
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the rehearsal process in theater class.
More from Lynn Nottage
All quotes →The person whose work introduced me to the craft was Lorraine Hansberry. The person who taught me to love the craft was Tennessee Williams. The person who really taught me the power of the craft was August Wilson, and the person who taught me the political heft of the craft was Arthur Miller.
Lynn NottageRead
I was repeatedly told that there isn't an African American woman who can open a show on Broadway. I said, 'Well, how do we know? How do we know if we don't do it?' I said, 'I think you're wrong.'
Lynn NottageRead
Once working people discover that, collectively, we have more power than we do as individual silos, then we become an incredibly powerful force. But I think that there are powers that be that are invested in us remaining divided along racial lines, along economic lines.
Lynn NottageRead
It's incumbent on us to reach beyond the confines of the institutions that traditionally produce art and find new ways to get it to the people.
Lynn NottageRead
My grandfather was a Pullman porter, and my father put his way through college by cleaning floors at night in the libraries. I understand that working people are in some way the bedrock of my existence and the existence of many people here.
Lynn NottageRead
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