Black Comedy is a farce that is played in the dark, as you know, with the lights full on. It's the Chinese convention of reversing light and dark, and exactly where anybody is at any given moment is the play.

Quote by Peter Shaffer

Topics: Peter Shaffer Quotes

It is very, very difficult for a playwright to write a scene in which a...

It is very, very difficult for a playwright to write a scene in which a...

I made, over the years in Cambridge, several very good American friends, and America appeared...

I made, over the years in Cambridge, several very good American friends, and America appeared...

You never quite know what's going to strike your imagination, or something that won't going...

You never quite know what's going to strike your imagination, or something that won't going...

They look so expectant, and then they look so depressed... that was the other great...

They look so expectant, and then they look so depressed... that was the other great...

I think possibly the first film that has music as its leading character.

I think possibly the first film that has music as its leading character.

Rehearsing a play is making the word flesh. Publishing a play is reversing the process.

Rehearsing a play is making the word flesh. Publishing a play is reversing the process.

I think I did have fantasies about being an actor. In fact, I know I...

I think I did have fantasies about being an actor. In fact, I know I...

But the first published thing I did was a detective story, detective novel, and I...

But the first published thing I did was a detective story, detective novel, and I...

I really believe that studying organization, even in the form of studying detective story organization,...

I really believe that studying organization, even in the form of studying detective story organization,...

You can't always let people do their own thing.

You can't always let people do their own thing.

Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created.

Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created.

Tragedy, for me, is not a conflict between right and wrong, but between two different...

Tragedy, for me, is not a conflict between right and wrong, but between two different...

I was an accomplice in my own frustration.

I was an accomplice in my own frustration.

I think people nowadays do tend to blame their parents for everything.

I think people nowadays do tend to blame their parents for everything.

If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting.

If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting.

I was born in Liverpool in England, and I lived there for the first nine...

I was born in Liverpool in England, and I lived there for the first nine...

It's an extraordinary thing about Mozart is that you never tire of him... he never...

It's an extraordinary thing about Mozart is that you never tire of him... he never...

My actual childhood, as opposed to my adolescence, was not spent in London.

My actual childhood, as opposed to my adolescence, was not spent in London.

And in fact, I think one of the best guides to telling you who you...

And in fact, I think one of the best guides to telling you who you...

I think plays, like books, are endemic. They grow out of the soil of the...

I think plays, like books, are endemic. They grow out of the soil of the...