--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For many playwrights, they write the…" description: "\"For many playwrights, they write the plays anyway because they've got to be, the work has been started, it's got to be finished, but we all long, I thi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/wole-soyinka-1587_actor_for-many-playwrights-they-write-the-play_2291116.jpg" --- # For many playwrights, they write the plays anyway because… ![“For many playwrights, they write the plays anyway because they've got to be, the work has been started, it's got to be finished, but we all long, I think, to see the plays fleshed out on stage and I'm exactly like that. Yes, I'm not satisfied until I actually see it on stage.” quote by Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/wole-soyinka-1587_actor_for-many-playwrights-they-write-the-play_2291116.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/wole-soyinka-1587_actor_for-many-playwrights-they-write-the-play_2291116.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/wole-soyinka-1587_actor_for-many-playwrights-they-write-the-play_2291116.jpg) > “For many playwrights, they write the plays anyway because they've got to be, the work has been started, it's got to be finished, but we all long, I think, to see the plays fleshed out on stage and I'm exactly like that. Yes, I'm not satisfied until I actually see it on stage.” [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Playwrights feel compelled to complete works but only feel fulfilled when they see them performed live. **In simple terms:** Seeing a play performed completes the writer. Key Takeaway Strive for live realization. Themes artistic fulfillment process performance Mood passionate reflective Type theatrical motivational When to use this quote - theatre production - writing workshops - artistic collaboration - career development Key Concepts creative completion audience interaction Questions to Reflect On - How does audience presence affect your work? - What alternatives exist when staging isn’t possible? A Different Perspective Live performance may not be feasible for all. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Playwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playwright/) [Playwrights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playwrights/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Theatre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Write plays that matter. Raise the stakes. Shout, yell, holler, but make yourself heard. It's time for playwrights to reclaim the theatre. We do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-mcnally/write-plays-that-matter-raise-the-stakes-shout-yell-holler-but-make/) [Terrence McNally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-mcnally/) > [You know, most good playwrights write seven good plays and then something happens and after that they're crap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-kane/you-know-most-good-playwrights-write-seven-good-plays-and-then/) [Sarah Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-kane/) > [Well, one of the things we're supposed to be able to do as playwrights is write from a place of empathy, get into another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-letts/well-one-of-the-things-we-re-supposed-to-be-able-to-do-as-playwrights/) [Tracy Letts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-letts/) > [It's the function of a playwright to write. Some playwrights write a large number of plays, some write a small number.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/it-s-the-function-of-a-playwright-to-write-some-playwrights-write-a/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [“Act I, Scene 1 GARRY: …My worst defect is that I am apt to worry too much about what people think of me when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-coward/act-i-scene-1-garry-my-worst-defect-is-that-i-am-apt-to-worry-too/) [Noël Coward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-coward/) > [ I think he \[Vaclav Havel\] probably would have liked to have written more plays. I think he missed being a playwright.I think he talked… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-woodruff/i-think-he-vaclav-havel-probably-would-have-liked-to-have-written/) [Judy Woodruff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-woodruff/) > [I started in theater and I wanted to write plays, but I never really found an original voice as a playwright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atom-egoyan/i-started-in-theater-and-i-wanted-to-write-plays-but-i-never-really/) [Atom Egoyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atom-egoyan/) > [I wrote my first play at the age of 10, 55 years ago, and I've always found it a fantastic relief to imagine I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-shawn/i-wrote-my-first-play-at-the-age-of-10-55-years-ago-and-i-ve-always/) [Wallace Shawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-shawn/) > [I became fascinated by the fact that people write to give away rather than write to be read. It's the difference between playwrights and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suchet/i-became-fascinated-by-the-fact-that-people-write-to-give-away-rather/) [David Suchet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suchet/) > [You have to have hope. It's irresponsible to give false hope, which I think a lot of playwrights are guilty of. But I also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/you-have-to-have-hope-it-s-irresponsible-to-give-false-hope-which-i/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [ I've taken \[acting\] class with Larry Moss, who's more kind of in the theater world, so he's really educated me about playwrights. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-mendes/i-ve-taken-acting-class-with-larry-moss-who-s-more-kind-of-in-the/) [Eva Mendes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-mendes/) > [Theatre is a mirror, a sharp reflection of society. The greatest playwrights are moralists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-reza/theatre-is-a-mirror-a-sharp-reflection-of-society-the-greatest/) [Yasmina Reza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-reza/) > [Some playwrights are obvious influences on younger writers. Arthur Miller (realistic, politically engaged dramas) and Christopher Durang (satirical dark comedies) are examples. But August…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-sullivan/some-playwrights-are-obvious-influences-on-younger-writers-arthur/) Daniel J. Sullivan > [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/) > [Lou Tyrrell has created a theatre that is a safe haven for playwrights, a birthing center for new American writing. Arts Garage has created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/lou-tyrrell-has-created-a-theatre-that-is-a-safe-haven-for/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) ## More by Wole Soyinka > [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [When I tried to create a new political party, which I stressed that this is not my party. I believe very much that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-i-tried-to-create-a-new-political-party-which-i-stressed-that/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Each time I think I've created time for myself, along comes a throwback to disrupt my private space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/each-time-i-think-i-ve-created-time-for-myself-along-comes-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/my-horizon-on-humanity-is-enlarged-by-reading-the-writers-of-poems/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The phenomenon of creativity, we know, is closely related to the ability to yoke together separate, and even seemingly incompatible, matrices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-phenomenon-of-creativity-we-know-is-closely-related-to-the/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One, a mass movement from within, which, as you know, is constantly being put down brutally but which, again, regroups and moves forward as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-a-mass-movement-from-within-which-as-you-know-is-constantly-being/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One has to confront history honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-has-to-confront-history-honestly/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [We wasted a lot of creative energy in that immediate post colonial era, when there was a struggle between, you know, the Cold War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/we-wasted-a-lot-of-creative-energy-in-that-immediate-post-colonial/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-have-a-kind-of-magnetic-attraction-to-situations-of-violence/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The Egba kingdom was one of the very last to be ceded to the British protectorate. It remained almost an independent entity within what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-egba-kingdom-was-one-of-the-very-last-to-be-ceded-to-the-british/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One's own self-worth is tied to the worth of the community to which one belongs, which is intimately connected to humanity in general. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-s-own-self-worth-is-tied-to-the-worth-of-the-community-to-which/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I was born into a Christian household, in a parsonage in fact, so I grew up in sort of a missionary atmosphere but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-was-born-into-a-christian-household-in-a-parsonage-in-fact-so-i/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The problem with literature, with writing, is that it works sometimes in terms of correction of social ills. Other times, it just does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-problem-with-literature-with-writing-is-that-it-works-sometimes/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) [Explore all 225 Wole Soyinka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## 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. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) > [Actors don't hate acting. Most people don't hate acting! Whether you're a child mucking around with your friends or a grown up being paid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-hewson/actors-don-t-hate-acting-most-people-don-t-hate-acting-whether-you-re/) [Liv Hewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-hewson/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [I never planned to do female roles. It just happened. I was typecast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divine/i-never-planned-to-do-female-roles-it-just-happened-i-was-typecast/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divine/) > [Once I committed to acting, this has been it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/once-i-committed-to-acting-this-has-been-it/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) [Browse all 21,590 Actor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For many playwrights, they write the plays anyway because they've got to be, the work has been started, it's got to be finished, but we all long, I think, to see the plays fleshed out on stage and I'm exactly like that. 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