I don't feel that catharsis in a play necessarily takes place during the course of a play. Often it should take place afterward.

Art has an obligation to offend

What happens in a play is determined to a certain extent by what I thought might be interesting to have happen before I invented the characters, before they started taking over what happened, because they are three-dimensional individuals, and I cannot tell them what to do. Once I give them their identity and their nature, they start writing the play.

You...you've been here quite a long time, haven't you?" What? Oh...yes. Ever since I married What's-her-name. Uh, Martha. Even before that. Forever. Dashed hopes, and good intentions. Good, better, best, bested. How do you like that for a declension, young man?

I usually think about a play anywhere from six months to a year and a half before I sit down to write it out.

I suppose if you simplify things, it's going to make it easier to understand.

First, I'll kill the dog with kindness, and if that doesn't work, I'll just kill him.