--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you write a play, you make a set of…" description: "\"When you write a play, you make a set of assumptions -- that you have something to say, that you know how to say it, that its worth saying, and that ma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/edward-albee-1684_actor_when-you-write-a-play-you-make-a-set-of_2246859.png" --- # When you write a play, you make a set of assumptions… ![“When you write a play, you make a set of assumptions -- that you have something to say, that you know how to say it, that its worth saying, and that maybe someone will come along for the ride.” quote by Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/edward-albee-1684_actor_when-you-write-a-play-you-make-a-set-of_2246859.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/edward-albee-1684_actor_when-you-write-a-play-you-make-a-set-of_2246859.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/edward-albee-1684_actor_when-you-write-a-play-you-make-a-set-of_2246859.png) > “When you write a play, you make a set of assumptions -- that you have something to say, that you know how to say it, that its worth saying, and that maybe someone will come along for the ride.” [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating a play requires confidence in content, expression, value, and audience engagement. **In simple terms:** Assume you have something worth saying and can convey it. Key Takeaway Validate assumptions before presenting work. Themes creativity assumptions communication audience Mood reflective analytical Type artistic educational When to use this quote - theatre production - writing workshops - pitch meetings - creative collaborations Key Concepts narrative intent dramatic structure self‑confidence Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports your belief in the play’s value? - How will you adapt if audience response differs? A Different Perspective Assumptions may be false, leading to rejection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Along for the ride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/along-for-the-ride/) [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Assumptions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumptions/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Saying maybe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saying-maybe/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Progress is a set of assumptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/progress-is-a-set-of-assumptions/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Each of us carries within us a worldview, a set of assumptions about how the world works - what some call a paradigm -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-moore-lapp/each-of-us-carries-within-us-a-worldview-a-set-of-assumptions-about/) [Frances Moore Lappé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-moore-lapp/) > [Every economic opinion is associated with a set of assumptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautam-adani/every-economic-opinion-is-associated-with-a-set-of-assumptions/) [Gautam Adani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautam-adani/) > [In the two or three or four months that it takes me to write a play, I find that the reality of the play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/in-the-two-or-three-or-four-months-that-it-takes-me-to-write-a-play-i/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [People often ask me how long it takes me to write a play, and I tell them 'all of my life.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/people-often-ask-me-how-long-it-takes-me-to-write-a-play-and-i-tell/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [To write a play one must be born a playwright. Otherwise, you're starting at a huge disadvantage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/to-write-a-play-one-must-be-born-a-playwright-otherwise-you-re/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Each time I sit down and write a play I try to dismiss from my mind as much as I possibly can the implications…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/each-time-i-sit-down-and-write-a-play-i-try-to-dismiss-from-my-mind/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Within a year after I write a play I forget the experience of having written it. And I couldn't revise or rewrite it if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/within-a-year-after-i-write-a-play-i-forget-the-experience-of-having/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I don't set out to write a play a year. Sometimes I've written two plays a year. There was a period of a year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/i-don-t-set-out-to-write-a-play-a-year-sometimes-i-ve-written-two/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I've been evolving in my stunt career Stunts have always had their place, and I have to measure them now. I've done things where,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-costner/i-ve-been-evolving-in-my-stunt-career-stunts-have-always-had-their/) [Kevin Costner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-costner/) > [After I was 70, I realized that, 'Okay, I would like to have another 50 years, and I probably could.' But part of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/after-i-was-70-i-realized-that-okay-i-would-like-to-have-another-50/) [Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/) > [You have to believe in what you are saying. Maybe they will like it or not but they cannot contest that what you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-christophe-maillot/you-have-to-believe-in-what-you-are-saying-maybe-they-will-like-it-or/) Jean-Christophe Maillot > [You can cut all that bullshit out and saying maybe this is for the best. Because we're going to get through this. Together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-cut-all-that-bullshit-out-and-saying-maybe-this-is-for-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Never say "maybe" to an additional portfolio request. It doesn't matter what level you are in the organization. Saying "maybe" leads to disaster. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-say-maybe-to-an-additional-portfolio-request-it-doesn-t-matter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Let's look at what Donald Trump is now \[in November 2016\] saying. He's saying he wants to repeal and replace ObamaCare. He is also… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stephanopoulos/let-s-look-at-what-donald-trump-is-now-in-november-2016-saying-he-s/) [George Stephanopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stephanopoulos/) ## More by Edward Albee > [School curricula that ignore the arts produce highly educated Barbarians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/school-curricula-that-ignore-the-arts-produce-highly-educated/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [When a critic sets himself up as an arbiter of morality, a judge of the matter and not the manner of a work, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-a-critic-sets-himself-up-as-an-arbiter-of-morality-a-judge-of/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [When people don't like the way a play ends, they're likely to blame the play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-people-don-t-like-the-way-a-play-ends-they-re-likely-to-blame/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [In a democracy you cannot stop public access to that art that will most misinform the people. You cannot stop people from being misinformed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/in-a-democracy-you-cannot-stop-public-access-to-that-art-that-will/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Creativity is magic. Don't examine it too closely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/creativity-is-magic-don-t-examine-it-too-closely/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [When people can't abide things as they are, when they can't abide the present, they do one of two things ... either they ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-people-can-t-abide-things-as-they-are-when-they-can-t-abide-the/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [“Lady, you can’t fuck a metaphor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/lady-you-can-t-fuck-a-metaphor/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I write to find out what I'm talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/i-write-to-find-out-what-i-m-talking-about/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I know playwrights who like to kid themselves into saying that their characters are so well formed that they just take over. They determine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/i-know-playwrights-who-like-to-kid-themselves-into-saying-that-their/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [The greatest problem with Irish Wolfhounds, though, is that they don't live very long: their great hearts give out. A good deal of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/the-greatest-problem-with-irish-wolfhounds-though-is-that-they-don-t/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Dashed hopes and good intentions. Good, better, best, bested.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/dashed-hopes-and-good-intentions-good-better-best-bested/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Writing has got to be an act of discovery…I write to find out what I'm thinking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/writing-has-got-to-be-an-act-of-discovery-i-write-to-find-out-what-i/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I'm back in fashion again for a while now. But I imagine that three or four years from now I'll be out again. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/i-m-back-in-fashion-again-for-a-while-now-but-i-imagine-that-three-or/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [What people really want in the theater is fantasy involvement and not reality involvement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/what-people-really-want-in-the-theater-is-fantasy-involvement-and-not/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [Art should never try to be popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/art-should-never-try-to-be-popular/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) [Explore all 216 Edward Albee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) ## More Actor quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I once told someone I could act. They totally bought it. I've been getting away with it ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshay-kumar/i-once-told-someone-i-could-act-they-totally-bought-it-i-ve-been/) [Akshay Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshay-kumar/) > [There has got to be a way for me to have a role on TV or in film that is just as normal as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adeel-akhtar/there-has-got-to-be-a-way-for-me-to-have-a-role-on-tv-or-in-film-that/) [Adeel Akhtar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adeel-akhtar/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/) [David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) > [I'm an actor, so I'm never going to feel like I've done enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italia-ricci/i-m-an-actor-so-i-m-never-going-to-feel-like-i-ve-done-enough/) [Italia Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italia-ricci/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [When I was 13, I auditioned for the theater school, and I was there for four years. In the meantime, I did my first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-de-armas/when-i-was-13-i-auditioned-for-the-theater-school-and-i-was-there-for/) [Ana de Armas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-de-armas/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. 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