Richard Greenberg
Richard Greenberg
Richard Greenbergis an American playwright and television writer known for his subversively humorous depictions of middle-class American life. He has had more than 25 plays premiere on and off-broadway in New York City and eight at the South Coast Repertory Theatre, including The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, and Hurrah at Last...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth22 February 1958
CountryUnited States of America
alienation extension people
People talk about alienation in the city. Diners are a place where you feel comfortable, an extension of your house.
driven surface
Everything on and under the surface is driven by the tides,
life sort
You do think, if you have your druthers, 'I want to sort of be, not anonymous, but unknown'. But you don't have your druthers in life, do you?
creep hard subtle tried understood
My mother wanted me to be a writer. But she was a child of the Depression and never understood that she wasn't poor. So, you know, the idea of not having a job, it would creep through. But she tried very hard to be subtle about it.
aura catch wanting
I think I can be an intimidating energy in the room. I think I come in with an aura of wanting results because as the playwright, I know how it goes, and there's the thought, 'Why can't they catch up?'
expected people time
I think I'm a writer, and it's my job. People in other professions are expected to do their jobs all the time. Why shouldn't I?
stopped
I thought if I stopped writing, ... the world would explode.
audience dress experience file filing love moment peak people plays seeing start
Frankly, seeing my plays with an audience is something I do with gritted teeth; I find the experience very difficult. I love the moment when you have just the dress rehearsal, when no one's there; that's kind of the peak to me. When people start filing in, I like to file out.
came exactly stuff supposed
I came to New York, and it was fascinating and intimidating and yielding, and all the stuff it's supposed to be. But whatever the abstract essence I was seeking, I couldn't find exactly that.
formed seeing time
I was formed by 'The Forsyte Saga' marathon. There was something about seeing all those events telescoped that was unbelievably moving: that sense of time as something that can be tinkered with.
dangerous family good less mean review trained
My friends and family have been so well trained that they know I really mean it when I say that I don't care if the review is good, because that can be as dangerous as when it's bad. It's less demoralizing, but it can be just as confusing.
feels standard time volition
When we watch a play under the standard circumstances, we've lost volition and time is passing. A still play feels like an existential threat.
months time
It's weird, because I don't feel prolific. I don't write anything for months at a time.
becomes hurdle informed jump opinions precarious seemingly seems technique understand
It seems that the hurdle you have to jump over is everyone's informed opinion. When you're a young playwright, you're probably too precarious in your own technique to understand that when these seemingly informed opinions are contradicting each other, it becomes this paralyzing monolith.