Quotes of the week, May 14: Vinay Patel, Judi Dench, Andrew Scott and more

“I never have to feel self-conscious writing for the theatre. When I did An Adventure at the Bush in 2018, the play spanned 60 years and three continents. There’s no way I’d get that on telly. What’s great about theatre is that you can start with ambitious storytelling right from the off. Theatre is a little space where you can dream a little bigger.”
Playwright Vinay Patel (Guardian)

“We’re not hearing enough from artistic directors of theatres. There is no sense of inspired leadership. Talk to us. Find the positives and share them with us. This is no time to wait for a return to the old normal. People need to be a part of something now.”
Director Matthew Dunster (Twitter)

“I am sure I feel like everyone else, such unprecedented times are quite hard to comprehend. What is a good thing is that it has made people aware of the predicament of others who are completely alone. If a great deal of kindness comes out of this, then that will be a plus.”
Actor Judi Dench on lockdown (Vogue)

“Maybe theatre will come back in a smaller way... It will be actor-led; it will be visceral; it will be to do with celebrating the feeling of being with bodies. I think, having been with computers for so long, to feel the presence, to see the sweat and tears of another body will be an amazing spectacle in its own right. It is inspiring to remember that theatre has always survived: it has lived through plagues before. Somehow the human need to come together as a group is so strong and so powerful: I do believe people will come back.”
Director Simon Godwin (Financial Times)

“One thing I did recognise as a child was the amount of bonding that happened in England because of the [Second World] war, and I feel the same feelings in America here at this moment.”
Actor Julie Andrews (Guardian)

“I think it’s been unfairly reported that fans of TV shows make noise in the theatre and behave like animals. That’s not my experience. If people show their enthusiasm in a slightly different way than polite, reserved silence, then I don’t see the problem with that.”
Actor Andrew Scott (GQ)

“If we don’t find a way to enable rehearsals in an artistically meaningful way, theatre will have to be declared dead for the long term. Probably until a vaccine is found.”
Artistic director of Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna Herbert Föttinger (New York Times)

“We’ll all not fucking die by not doing the [Edinburgh] fringe... Small theatres, and the small communities, they will suffer the longevity of this.”
Comedian Janey Godley (Observer)