Peter Shaffer
Peter Shaffer
Sir Peter Levin Shaffer, CBEwas an English playwright and screenwriter of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been turned into films...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionScreenwriter
Date of Birth15 May 1926
believe form valuable
I really believe that studying organization, even in the form of studying detective story organization, is very, very valuable for a playwright, a budding playwright.
acts original public remarkable seen york
I've seen the most remarkable thing. It's in the New York Public Library. They've got the original typescript of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' - all four acts of it.
brought discussion faith gently jewish orthodox
I was brought up in an Orthodox Jewish household. I don't think I ever had a single discussion with my parents about faith. It was just something gently imposed.
leading music possibly
I think possibly the first film that has music as its leading character.
But the first published thing I did was a detective story, detective novel, and I did that on my own.
both discover exciting verbal
I discover what I mean as I write. That can be both terrifically exciting and very dangerous, because when you look at your words later, you wonder, 'Did I really mean that, or am I just making verbal patterns?'
audiences extent films
Our function as playwrights to some extent is to make audiences see with their ears, because films make us see with our eyes much better.
music rhetoric verbal
The rhetoric is the key to the character. It's the verbal music of the piece.
caused sensation
In London, 'Equus' caused a sensation because it displayed cruelty to horses; in New York, because it allegedly displayed cruelty to psychiatrists.
began danger england great invasion poland september state thereafter time war
We... our war began September the 3rd 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany, and thereafter the great state of danger in England at that time, with the bombings, necessitated the evacuation of children.
sole
Things rust, you know, like the heart. My cardiologist said, 'It's a pump; use it - that's the sole advice I've got to give you.' It's the same in playwriting. Don't theorise about it. Do it.
based benefits bet bringing conquered country history invading proclaimed throughout
I'd be willing to bet that any incursion throughout history in which the invading country has proclaimed it is bringing benefits to the conquered is based on a lie.
against divided originally stage unhappy
My first stage play was a play about a family, an unhappy family, divided against itself, and it was originally called Retreats.
element envious people sustained
A part of me is always envious of people who live in the present and are sustained by a sense of spontaneity. Even dogs have that capacity: they're always wanting to participate in something, and I don't often have that element in me.