It [Cambridge] wasn't a holy grail in the sense that I'd never been to Cambridge. But then, when I did go, the contrast between Leeds, which was very black and sooty in those days, and Cambridge, which seemed like something out of a fairystory, in the grip of a hard frost, was just wonderful.

I was an only child. I lost both my parents. By the time I was twenty I was bald. I'm homosexual. In the way of circumstances and background to transcend I had everything an artist could possibly want. It was practically a blueprint.

Life is generally something that happens elsewhere.

I write plays about things that I can't resolve in my mind. I try to root things out.

Definition of a classic: a book everyone is assumed to have read and often thinks they have.

I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.

Of course my standards are out of date! That's why they're called standards.