What I really would like to see is more female stories out there. Particularly older female stories, because women are predominantly ticket-buyers. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
I’ve enjoyed lots of productions, and it’s always been down to the actors I’ve been working with. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
The actors work out how to create the show with me during the rehearsals. They owe it to themselves and each other to maintain that contract regardless of what the critics say. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
As you get older, you realise that your identity becomes more important – the environment in which you have grown is actually part of who you are just as much as your family or your school. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
Friends’ is easy to dismiss, but it’s really good television – the art with which those actors play with comedy shouldn’t be denigrated. And they also know how to play irony, which I think a lot of English actors might find quite difficult. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
In subsidized theater, you are encouraged to take risks. It’s about being imaginative and artistic. That’s the priority. It might not be a success, but let’s try. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
I was 28 before I started putting on productions. I got in the back door by doing fringe shows and a lot of assisting, and I learned on the job. There weren’t many female directors when I was starting out. I slowly gained confidence and understanding of the theater, but on my own terms. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
I find theater emotionally expensive and all-involving. You have to pour so much blood and passion and heart into it. And so much time. Why do that for something that’s only vaguely interesting and anyone can do it? Marianne Elliott Read Quote
I had done drama at university, but I never thought I could be a director. There were so few female directors then. I just assumed you had to be a man to be a director. I also assumed you had to be extremely authoritarian and extremely intellectual, none of which I was. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
You have to lead by example. You have to be the calmest person in the room. You have to be very open. I think the qualities of a director are to enable and to find the best in everybody. Marianne Elliott Read Quote
