I've never lost a grown-up child, but I have known loss.

You don't go to a comedy and try to laugh. You laugh in spite of yourself. You don't just come on stage and cry. Something has pushed you to cry.

I’ve learnt to listen. I don’t think I always did listen. Not just in plays, but in life. And you have to hear what people are saying before you can respond.

I've had very close relationships with some twentieth-century writers.

I love the drive from York to Whitby over the moors - one of the great journeys, in my book.

People in distress behave in a stressful way. They aren't all sweetness and light. They don't behave well when they are unhappy. That's just what I've observed.

Some people will never change.