Rewriting isn't just about dialogue, it's the order of the scenes, how you finish a scene, how you get into a scene. All these final decisions are best made when you're there, watching. It's really enjoyable, but you've got to be there at the director's invitation. You can't just barge in and say, "I'm the writer."

Normally, even if you're on the set for 12 hours, there may be only a moment or two when you are actually useful.

It's no trick loving somebody at their best. Love is loving them at their worst.

And for the last three minutes on the wind of a windless day I have heard the sound of drums and flute.

All your life you live so close to truth, it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye, and when something nudges it into outline it is like being ambushed by a grotesque.

You can't but know that if you can capture the emotions of the audience as well as their minds, the play will work better, because it's a narrative art form.

In England the rich own the poor and the men own the women.