John Patrick Shanley Quotes

After becoming deaf, I realized that I'd better get an education if I was ever to do anything with my life.

I always do drama. It's just that some people laugh at it and some people cry.

People always make that mistake when they talk about theatre - the notion of the 'theatrical' meaning something separate from life. If it doesn't relate to life, it doesn't relate to anything.

All the modern verse plays, they're terrible; they're mostly about the poetry. It's more important that the play is first.

I ventured into fiction in 1988 with 'What Love Sees,' a biographical novel of a woman's unwavering determination to lead a full life despite blindness.

In no instance is there to be a musical or opera of Inherit the Wind because it doesn't sing. It's an intellectual play.

Then I heard this genius teacher Stella Adler - I recommend you read anything you might find about her and if you have anyone interested in theatre, you get them one of her books.

I loved playing the part of the feisty Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker.

I saw 'Othello' at the National Theatre in London, and it was so stunning. I was so moved. It's beautiful.

I'm passionate about music, and I feel that theatre has an extraordinarily musical ability in the way it operates on the audience.

No one will ever argue that someone could have played Helen Keller better than Patty Duke. It was an incredibly demanding role and I don't think anyone can argue that it was a false performance.

When I see a friend play Hamlet or see an inspirational performance, I absolutely get excited by the idea of changing things up.

When you come to my show, I want it to feel like opera, like a theatre.

Music made me feel like I was sexy. Music made me feel like I wasn't just a blind guy.

'Black Watch' has taken its place in the canon of Scottish theatre, and that's fantastic. It's a very particular kind of theatre. It's about the music, the movement, the whole 'event' of it.

One of the functions of drama is to teach.

I got to see my mom do 'Long Day's Journey' in London, which was really beautiful.

If I ever loose my eyes, I won't have to cry no more.

When you face adversity, you need to remind yourself that whatever is trying to defeat you could very well be what God will use to promote you.

Contrast is the dramatist's method.

I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a student's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a student humanized or de-humanized.

There's nothing that compares to watching that final of Charles Mee’s 'The Glory of the World' play at BAM17 to 20 minute sequence in one sitting. It fills you with a giddy energy watching that. Then, being gifted with the silence that follows...I've never had a theatrical experience like that before, I'm sure.

All the world's a stage.

Drama is a complete meal, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates. It's a slow burn thing. It's got an arc. Comedy is more like coke.

Good drama must be drastic.