Quotes of the week, June 4: Tori Allen-Martin, Brian Cox, Laura Wade and more
“Theatre companies/venues/producers with a bit of cash – @We_BurnBright are looking to elevate black voices asap because a lot of shit needs to be said now, and not just from those with a platform. If you’d like to collaborate and help us fund this please get in touch.”
Actor Tori Allen-Martin (Twitter)
“I am hopeful theatres will survive this pandemic. The desire to have a shared experience, to laugh together and to breathe together – that’s not something you can permanently switch off or replace with a live stream.”
Director of Germany’s Schaubühne Theatre Thomas Ostermeier (Guardian)
“Theatre can’t save the world. But what I think it can do is say, ‘Let us think of our common interests, let us think of prosperity as something that happens to all of us, let us think of ourselves as a community.’ I think that, in both form and content, theatre can continually inspire people to reflect that that is the best of being human.”
Artistic director Oskar Eustis (Financial Times)
“The creative arts will always be vibrant, but this is a key moment for the government to realise their crucial value to everyday life, and support the industry. The experience of watching a play, a ballet, a live performance, when you’re all in the same space, breathing the same air together – that’s such a special thing.”
Choreographer Wayne McGregor (Observer)
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“There were moments where I was thinking about how I’m playing this piece while the US is burning. This country I love so much — I felt a great level of despair and anger. I can’t tell you that it translated into the music, but it translated into me.”
Pianist Igor Levit on his live stream of Vexations – a solo of four lines repeated 840 times (New York Times)
“The Lyceum in Edinburgh, where I started my career after I left drama school a hundred years ago, is under threat. We don’t want to lose those theatres. And I’m so worried that people get into the habit of staying at home and not ever going out anymore.”
Actor Brian Cox (Telegraph)
“The best thing about being a playwright is having a play on. We write to communicate, to share our stories. Getting into rehearsals, getting a play on stage, that’s what I live for. So it feels extremely sad right now. But everyone in the industry is in the same boat. It’s not like only my show got cancelled because, say, the finance fell through. You have to be humble about your own disappointment, and see the bigger picture.”
Playwright Laura Wade (Observer)
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