Quotes from John Tiffany

Usually, in theatre, you're adapting existing material or creating an entirely new play. With the 'Cursed Child,' we have been given the unique opportunity to explore some of the most cherished books and beloved characters ever written, yet work with J. K. Rowling to tell a story from that world that no one yet knows - it's exhilarating.

I'm fascinated to see how 'Black Watch' connects with an American audience.

'Philistines' was so beautiful, and it bored me to death. I never want to see another production where the rain splashes against a window and actors wander around in drab cardigans saying, 'I'm so bored.'

If you're going to be hosting any event or a performance or having dinner with people after a performance, it is work, but it's also social: food and a glass of wine would be involved often.

When I realised, on 'The Straits,' that physical work in the theatre takes much longer than directing scenes, it was like a eureka moment. If you want to work physically, you have to accommodate it, and it takes a disproportionate amount of time.

I was pre-med at Glasgow University. I was from a family who were of the mind that if you were clever enough to be a doctor or a lawyer, why wouldn't you be?

I have a personal issue with Shakespeare. When I first encountered him, he made me feel thick. Well, not him, but the productions I saw.

'Thou shalt not bore' is a commandment that should be at the centre of our ambitions.

A first preview is not exactly a pleasant experience for directors and actors. You're never as raw as when the audience first comes in.

One of my favorite things to read in the 'Observer' is the restaurant review by Jay Rayner. I love reading about these restaurants that I won't ever have the time to go to.

I realise that there's something about fantasy, whether it's written by the Grimm Brothers or J. K. Rowling or Thorne or J. M. Barrie, that it gets closer to the human experience than realism every could.

I don't think that just because people will pay a certain amount for a ticket that it's all right to charge it.

One of the things I realised as I learned to manage a rehearsal room is that the best idea always has to win, and it doesn't matter where the idea comes from.

I do like horror films, but I wouldn't ever be interested in putting a horror on stage - blood doesn't equal horror.

Trump is like an eater of worlds from an 'Avengers' movie, but there seem to be different rules for him. What are Twitter doing, for example? He's constantly breaking their rules, the sort of stuff other people get thrown off for.

For me, there is a real line between something being the worst thing in the world and the best thing in the world.

What has started to interest me is how you use all the different disciplines and tools we have at our disposal, and that includes going into different art forms, like music and movement, because often they can tap into things that characters can't necessarily express through words. Audiences really enjoy that total experience.

Only when you don't impose things on it do you get real political theatre.

When you're growing up, it's very easy to feel lonely and insecure.

Whenever I'd seen Greek tragedy done with masks and declamations, it brought me out in a rash.

I don't like the idea of stepping-stones in art forms: that you do your time at a regional theatre, and then you work in London and go to the West End, and then you do films. I've never felt like following that trajectory.

When you tell a story that you know is having an effect on the audience, that, for me, is the transforming thing.

Sometimes it should be the job of Broadway to introduce stars as well as cast them.

I'm never going to stop making theatre, but I don't think I'll make it as much, because I don't need to. There are other things I want to do with my life. I want to sit by the sea in Yorkshire and eat Eccles cakes and spend time with my family.