Im always interested in looking - historically - at how theater can animate history and how all of that can make us engage with our lives in an enriching way.

For me, the reason why people go to a mountaintop or go to the edge of the ocean is to look at something larger than themselves. That feeling of awe, of going to a cathedral, it's all about feeling lost in something bigger than oneself. To me, that's the definition of spectacle.

My generation of director has no illusions that we are going to be fed and cared for by subsidized theater in America.

The idea of making audiences feel like they matter, that the theatre matters, and that they're a partner in the event—that's what fuels me as a director . . . I believe it's actually radical to think about the audience.

When you're a freelance director, you are hired to create the art, and it kind of stops there.

Theatre and opera were always the twin kingdoms that I felt I had to conquer, because they were my parents' favorites.

As a director, I never feel that I have the answers.