George C. Wolfe Quotes
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I came to New York to write and direct, and when I got here, a lot of my rage came out.
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Doing any kind of culture in America in which you are not trying to affirm a European aesthetic is war.
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Everybody wants to be remembered for the best of who they are.
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I love and I'm intrigued by what history does to people and to subjects that matter.
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One thing I tend to do is ask actors tons and tons of questions to try to get at what they're thinking but also to expose to them whatever box they've placed their characters in - to blow up that box so the journey can begin.
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There is a real affection for these human beings on these stage that O'Neill really had. Out of that affection comes a lot of humor, which is unexpected when you think of 'The Iceman Cometh.'
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I love working with a set designer because, in many respects, you meet the set designer before you meet the actors. So it's a chance for me as a director to figure out what I'm thinking and to explore how the space is going to actually be activated.
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On different projects, different pieces of you will show up. Sometimes it's surprising which piece shows up.
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All the things that can happen to an artist regardless of how prepared they are and how smart they are and hard-working they are and attractive - doesn't matter. There's always somebody cuter. There just is.
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I feel like I'm edgy and I'm funny and I got this bite, this outrageousness.
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Generally, the realm in which black playwrights have been allowed to achieve success has been social realism or musicals.
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A lot of directors tend to manipulate actors' vulnerability to get what they want, and that can work.
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Certain events make people come out of their little boxes and become part of the whole.
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The wonderful thing about theater is that it has so many people involved in the creation of it. The worst thing about theater is that it has so many people involved in the creation of it. That dynamic is thrilling and challenging every time you make a show.
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You adjust what you do depending on the actor. You evolve a vocabulary and a way of language and talking with each actor.
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Always, when I do a play, there's got to be an equation of risks and potential failure. When you're working on a new play, it's like, 'How the hell do I do this, and do we have the time?' All of these huge questions engage, hopefully, the smartest part of me. And then when you're doing a revival, I went, 'Well, somebody's already solved it.'
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Every play is rhythmic control. If you want an audience to go on a journey, it's rhythmic control. You're crafting when they lean in, when they push back, when they breathe, when they surrender.
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At the end of the day, 'Shuffle Along' is about people coming together and making something extraordinary - and history not necessarily being kind to them. It's about the love of necessarily being kind to them. It's about the love of doing, regardless of the consequences.
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You've got to make the rehearsal room very safe. You can't bully people, because if you bully people, they're going to freeze and lock up.
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I've always tried to do shows in a filmic way. I like it when forms smack up against each other.
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I think I am the first person of color to direct a major white play on Broadway. In 1993? That's astounding to me. And horrifying to me.
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In Los Angeles, wealth and poverty are separated by the freeways. In New York, they're next to each other.
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I love Kabuki, Noh theater and bunraku.
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My absolutely favorite time of working on a project is the time I spend not knowing what it is. Because the longer you live inside that period, the likelier you are to discover something new.