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Sam Shepard
Feb. 20th, 2015 10:46 am<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
INTERVIEWER
Did becoming an actor help you as a writer?
SHEPARD
It did, because it helped me to understand what kinds of dilemmas an actor faces. [the need to understand and interpret from an actor's perspective]
[...]
INTERVIEWER
How do you decide that a play is finished?
SHEPARD
The only way to test it is with actors, because that’s who you’re writing for. When I have a piece of writing that I think might be ready, I test it with actors, and then I see if it’s what I imagined it to be. The best actors show you the flaws in the writing. They come to a certain place and there’s nothing there, or they read a line and say, OK, now what? That kind of questioning is more valuable than anything. They don’t have to say anything. With the very best actors I can see it in the way they’re preceding. Sometimes I instinctively know that this little part at the end of scene two, act one is not quite there, but I say to myself, Maybe we’ll get away with it. A good actor won’t let me. Not that he says, Hey, I can’t do this; I just see that he’s stumbling. And then I have to face up to the problem.
-- Sam Shepard at The Paris Review
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
INTERVIEWER
Did becoming an actor help you as a writer?
SHEPARD
It did, because it helped me to understand what kinds of dilemmas an actor faces. [the need to understand and interpret from an actor's perspective]
[...]
INTERVIEWER
How do you decide that a play is finished?
SHEPARD
The only way to test it is with actors, because that’s who you’re writing for. When I have a piece of writing that I think might be ready, I test it with actors, and then I see if it’s what I imagined it to be. The best actors show you the flaws in the writing. They come to a certain place and there’s nothing there, or they read a line and say, OK, now what? That kind of questioning is more valuable than anything. They don’t have to say anything. With the very best actors I can see it in the way they’re preceding. Sometimes I instinctively know that this little part at the end of scene two, act one is not quite there, but I say to myself, Maybe we’ll get away with it. A good actor won’t let me. Not that he says, Hey, I can’t do this; I just see that he’s stumbling. And then I have to face up to the problem.
-- Sam Shepard at The Paris Review
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
