I'm Of The School 'write What You

I Don't Think I've Ever Written Anything Even Remotely Naturalistic. The Closest Probably Would Be Seen As 'frankie And Johnny,' And That's Only 'cause They Eat A Sandwich And Make An Omelet In Act Two. But It's A Romantic Fairy Tale, And I'm Very Aware Of That. I Don't Think It Helps The Actors In My Plays To Lose Themselves In The Reality Of Talking To Another Person. A Good Mcnally Actor Always Knows He's In A Play With An Audience.

I Like To Surprise Myself. I've Always Been Attracted To Projects Where I Don't Know How They're Going To Turn Out.

There Are So Many Rules About Play Writing. I'd Have A Nervous Breakdown If I Followed Them.

In Those Days, You Had To Like One Or The Other. You Couldn't Like Sutherland And Callas.

Work With Good Directors. Without Them Your Play Is Doomed. At The Time Of My First Play, I Thought A Good Director Was Someone Who Liked My Play. I Was Rudely Awakened From That Fantasy When He Directed It As If He Loathed It. . . . Work With Good Actors. A Good Actor Hears The Way You (and No One Else) Write. A Good Actor Makes Rewrites Easy. A Good Actor Tells You Things About Your Play You Didn't Know.