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The problem was to sustain at any cost the feeling you had in the theater that you were watching a real person, yes, but an intense condensation of his experience, not simply a realistic series of episodes.
Arthur Miller
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of authentic emotional experience in theater rather than just realistic storytelling.

Arthur Miller highlights the purpose of theater as a medium that connects audiences to the profound emotional truths of a character's experience. Rather than merely portraying events in a realistic manner, he insists that the essence of great theater lies in its ability to capture and convey the depth of a character's feelings and experiences, allowing the audience to resonate with the emotional intensity of the performance.

Themes

TheaterEmotionExperienceAuthenticityPerformance

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion about a recent play, you can use this quote to express the significance of emotional authenticity in theater.

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Controlled hysteria is what's required. To exist constantly in a state of controlled hysteria. It's agony. But everyone has agony. The difference is that I try to take my agony home and teach it to sing.
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The word "now" is like a bomb through the window, and it ticks.
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Amos Oz is one of the finest novelists of this entire period. MY MICHAEL is a beautiful work of great depth and in some indescribable way lingers in the mind as a lyric song to his country's people as much as a moving love story.
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Just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away.
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Oh,Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer.
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The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost.
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