Altman on theatre
Billington interviews Robert Altman on the Arthur Miller play, Resurrection Blues, due at the Old Vic.
“”The actors have to know the play because they have to memorise the words. The technicians have to know the play because they have to organise the sound and light cues. But I want to keep myself as virginal as I can. I say, ‘Tell me what this play is about.’ I’ll find out as I do it and I’m really looking forward to seeing it. I don’t advise young directors that this is what they should do. This is simply my method.”
At first, I think Altman is gently taking the piss. But, as we talk, it becomes clear that he conceives a play very much as he does a movie: by placing total trust in his actors and by thinking in visual and aural rather than conceptual terms.”
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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