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.
Arthur MillerRead
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.
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.
More from Arthur Miller
All quotes →The word "now" is like a bomb through the window, and it ticks.
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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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