Quotes from John Tiffany

When I sold my flat in Glasgow, I bought a little cottage on the North Yorkshire coast. Whenever we go up from London to stay there, I'm just like, 'I'm home! I'm home in Bronte-land!'

I worked on new plays at the Traverse and did my best work in Scotland for years, so I never had ambitions for things like Disney.

I don't think it's good, culturally, to base all critical judgments on a single performance.

It couldn't interest me less, the idea of putting a living room on stage. I just think, what's the point of walking into a theater to see a living room? A sofa in a forest? Now you're talking.

Sometimes on Broadway, you don't know who the investors are, and you end up making a million dollars for somebody awful.

I had a lovely time growing up. But I was very aware of the miners' strike going on, friends' families collapsing, and people being unemployed.

Even with the success of 'Once,' I can't think about making theater straight for Broadway. Too nerve-racking.

I was obsessed with theatre and loving the work of Caryl Churchill, Edward Bond, Howard Brenton, and Howard Barker, people doing real formal experimentation. But 'Road' was the first time I'd read a play written in a very true Northern dialect that seemed to have that excitement running through it.

I'm not interested in putting naturalism on stage - I want passion.

The whole notion of never growing up is incredibly intense and emotional.

I suppose the key for me is about opening up experiences and untold stories to audiences.

I know Australians are no strangers to pubs, but in the U.K., the pub is a real meeting place because the houses can be quite small, so the pub is an extension of the living space.

You can only make the work that you have to make. And I am old enough now to know that I can't start making shows that are going to win awards. That way madness lies.

I've been in Glasgow since I was 18, on and off.

I've never felt opera was a party I've been invited to, and maybe I've got a bit of a chip on my shoulder about it.

I hate rules. I hate 'This is the way things are done'. I hate a lack of reinvention. I hate theatre as an archeological exercise. Theatre needs to be urgent.

In theatre, previews are the first draft of a show. I strongly believe that. The only way we can truly tell whether that draft works is by having an audience present.

It's very hard to argue with the politics of 'Black Watch,' because it is not an opinion; it is just the true stories of these boys, and any opinions expressed are theirs.

Theatre is a living organism. You only know if your show is working when you see it with an audience. You can also tell when it isn't working - it's horrible, and you desperately try to figure out how to make it connect.

The Black Watch is one of the most illustrious regiments. They've been at the vanguard of British military operations for 400 years. Something they're very proud of is what they call 'The Golden Thread,' where you can trace a line back from them to the first Black Watch soldiers who were from the Highlands, spoke Gaelic, and wore the kilt.

I studied theatre at Glasgow University and then was lucky enough to land a scholarship with a theatre group in Edinburgh.

I want to understand the anger in the world.

I suppose what I aspire to do is to make it easy for the audience to connect with a story.

I think associate director jobs are the best in the world, because you can do what you want and not have to take responsibility for it!