Pinocchio's really naughty. He's all impulse: 'I want to sleep now. I want to eat that. I want to run off to Pleasure Island.' It's commedia dell'arte meets Grimm's tales.
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.
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 was pre-med at Glasgow University. I was from a family who were of the mind that if you were clever enough to be a doctor or a lawyer, why wouldn't you be?
I thought a director was like a pillow who sat under the writer, supporting them and submitting to their vision. It took me a long time to realise that what a writer really wants is a production that matches the play and the writing. It is the only way the play can achieve its full potential.
I suppose the key for me is about opening up experiences and untold stories to audiences.
The physicality of a production needs evolution and breath.
Broadway is full of crazy people.
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.
A first preview is not exactly a pleasant experience for directors and actors. You're never as raw as when the audience first comes in.
I don't like the idea of stepping-stones in art forms: that you do your time at a regional theatre, and then you work in London and go to the West End, and then you do films. I've never felt like following that trajectory.
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.
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.
'Once' constantly surprises me. I think it's the power of the music and the storytelling that people connect with.
'Peter Pan' makes 'Black Watch' and 'The Bacchae' look like a walk in the park.
It blows my mind that you get Shakespeare where the 'low' comedy characters have got Northern or Welsh accents.
One of my favorite things to read in the 'Observer' is the restaurant review by Jay Rayner. I love reading about these restaurants that I won't ever have the time to go to.
I want to understand the anger in the world.
I'm fascinated to see how 'Black Watch' connects with an American audience.
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.
