A good actor always sets you straight. If you've written a false moment and thought it was probably pretty great, the actor's gonna show you when he gets to that moment. They're the great test of the validity of the material.
Sam ShepardRead
There are places where writing is acting and acting is writing. I'm not so interested in the divisions. I'm interested in the way things cross over.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the interconnectedness of writing and acting, suggesting that they can influence and enhance each other.
Sam Shepard reflects on the blurred lines between writing and acting, highlighting that both forms of expression are intertwined. He expresses his interest not in separating these disciplines but in exploring how they intersect and the creative possibilities that arise from that crossover. This perspective encourages a holistic approach to art, where different mediums can enrich one another.
Themes
WritingActingCreativityIntersectionArt
In practice
Example use cases
A discussion on the importance of collaboration between playwrights and actors in theater.
More from Sam Shepard
All quotes βI stay away from heavy-handed stuff, the good guy and the bad guy. It just doesn't interest me; all it does is create more fences between people, I think.
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I hate endings. Just detest them. Beginnings are definitely the most exciting, middles are perplexing and endings are a disaster. β¦ The temptation towards resolution, towards wrapping up the package, seems to me a terrible trap. Why not be more honest with the moment? The most authentic endings are the ones which are already revolving towards another beginning. Thatβs genius.
Sam ShepardRead
Democracy's a very fragile thing. You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it's no longer democracy, is it? It's something else. It may be an inch away from totalitarianism.
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On stage, you're not limited at all because you're free in language: language is the source of the imagination. You can travel farther in language than you can in any film.
Sam ShepardRead
There's no way to escape the fact that we've grown up in a violent culture, we just can't get away from it, it's part of our heritage. I think part of it is that we've always felt somewhat helpless in the face of this vast continent. Helplessness is answered in many ways, but one of them is violence.
Sam ShepardRead
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But that's not what an actor does. An actor finds things in the moment with a director and other actors that you don't have time to hand-draw or animate with a computer.
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