I guess I've accepted that theatre is never going to be edgy in the way I want it to be. It's too expensive for a start. And, the audience seems to be complicit in the dullness.
I think if you're writing a play, it should be its own end game; you'll never get to do a good one unless you know it's not a blueprint for a film; you're not going to get the action right and the story right.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A play should be crafted as an independent piece of art, rather than merely a stepping stone to another medium like film.
This quote emphasizes the importance of treating a play as a unique work meant for the stage, and not just as a draft for a different format such as film. Martin McDonagh argues that to create a compelling and effective theatrical performance, one must understand its distinct characteristics and storytelling techniques, which differ from those of a cinematic story.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a theater review discussing a recent play, one might say, 'As McDonagh points out, this play shines because it embraces its identity as a unique stage performance rather than a film blueprint.'
More from Martin Mcdonagh
All quotes →Though it may not seem like it, I never try to write about a place, per se; it's always, first and last, about story. Story is everything. Story and a bit of attitude.
There have to be moments when you glimpse something decent, something life-affirming even in the most twisted character. That's where the real art lies. See, I always suspect characters who are painted as lovely, decent human beings. I would always question where the darkness lies.
Similar quotes
No man with a conscience can just bat out illustrations. He's got to put all his talent and feeling into them!
Your film is like your children. You might want a child with certain qualities, but you are never going to get the exact specification right. The film has a privilege to live its own life and develop its own character. To suppress this is dangerous. It is an approach that works the other way too: sometimes the footage has amazing qualities that you did not expect.
The great problem was the selection of the readymade. I needed to choose an object without it impressing me: that is to say, without it providing any sort of aesthetic delectation. Moreover, I needed to reduce my own personal taste to absolute zero.
The role of the artist is to not look away.
Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise.
The stories are not autobiographical, but they're personal in that way. I seem to know only the things that I've learned. Probably some things through observation, but what I feel I know surely is personal.