«Normally, ... I don't read new plays. This is a professional deformation I have. If I'm lucky, I can work for another 10 years. But, since there are so many first-class plays in world drama, why should I do the lousy plays of today? However, I told Brian McMaster that Harrower's Knives and Hens was a big success in Germany and Brian brought us together. David came to stay for a weekend in Italy and I tried to talk to him about ideas and structure. I thought it was a total disaster: no contact, no real communication. The next thing I knew David had come up with an amazing first draft of Blackbird.»

«It is about a man and woman who meet 15 years after their affair. The girl is now 27, the man 55. I talked to David about my own experiences, though not, I assure you, with young girls. I also suggested he introduce a third character: the 12-year-old daughter of the hero's new girlfriend. When she starts to caress him, you can imagine the tremors this creates in the ex-lover. But this is not Lolita nor is it a play about paedophilia: it's a play about love. It's also about a world where 12-year-olds are treated as consumers, where advertising uses sex as a means of enticement and where kids have easy access to internet porn.»

«[This is just one of a vast number of plays and operas Stein has scheduled over the next five years, including Oedipus at Colonus with Michel Piccoli in Paris, a trio of Tchaikovsky's Pushkin-based operas in Lyons, Henze's The Bassarids in Amsterdam, Monteverdi's Return of Ulysses in Strasbourg, Botho Strauss's The Park in Italy and Shakespeare's Richard II in Russia.] It's a nightmare, ... I think I should cancel some. Or perhaps I should ask them to give me the money now so that, when I die, they will have paid me a third without getting the show. Then I can spin in my grave laughing.»

«[Stein has also been invited to stage Troilus and Cressida for McMaster's final Edinburgh festival next year and then take it to Stratford as part of the RSC's year-long Bardathon.] If I do it, ... I will dedicate it to John Barton. I never forget his 1960s production and its focus on Hector and Achilles. I was also thrilled by the scene where Cressida comes to these Greek assholes and everyone wants to screw her. It was fantastic. But I always steal from others. We directors are not giants. We are dwarves all standing on each other's shoulders in an effort to reach the text.»

«We like to be able to do well and do good.»

«Results from the studies conducted to date are very promising,»

«We didn't really follow through with it last year because we couldn't raise enough money. There was plenty of interest in the trip, but we knew the major hurdle would be raising money.»

«It was a major factor for us that we didn't want our parents to have to pay for this volunteer trip. We wanted to raise the money ourselves because it would be a bigger accomplishment.»