Marianne Elliott

“My father was a director, and my mother and grandparents were actors, so I spent a great deal of my time as a teenager trying to get away from the theatre.”

“When I was a kid, I never spoke. I would sit under a table and not speak to anybody. No words for years.”

“Whether you're a man or a woman, life can be very, very difficult and confusing and desperate, and it's life-enhancing to know that somehow, there is a way through it.”

“For me, 'Angels in America' is not really about AIDS. For me, it's a metaphor for anybody who is struggling with serious illness or having to face their own demise. All of the characters face some form of destruction in themselves.”

“It's predominantly a male society, predominately a male culture, predominantly a male theatre, and predominantly male critics, but that's changing, definitely.”

“I am quite an insecure person, and I think that, like any director, if I'm asked about my vision for a piece, I feel very vulnerable.”

“There's a certain type of theatre that I haven't got any time for at all - established, boring, same-old stuff without any reason or passion. There's quite a lot of it about, and it motivates me to try to do something different, something risky, raw, ugly, and challenging.”

“I'm always drawn to female stories with female protagonists, and I particularly yearn for more older actresses to take centre stage in 2018.”

“My generation feels it has been lied to a great deal.”

“If it is just another run-of-the-mill show, then what is the point?”

“We're always steered towards what is good in the canon by a male perspective. I like to do plays with a female protagonist who finds her way through. My way is unusual.”

“I'm quite unusual in directing terms: I'm a woman. I'm quite a girly girl. I was never academic.”

“It's impossible to feel the creative juices flowing if you're always worried about the end result. I think really, really good work comes out of people being quite open, not stressed, really exploring, trying to be imaginative, without worrying too much about the end result.”

“It would be quite interesting to use Kermit the Frog to act like a real frog. But it wouldn't produce captivating theatre.”

“I just think that you have to approach anything you do with a huge amount of integrity - I don't really care where it comes from, whether it's a children's piece or an adult piece.”

“I'm really fascinated by other directors' methods. I've done a lot of learning by observation.”

“You need to see yourself in what you direct, I think - directing is quite self-indulgent from that point of view.”

“I hope that subsidised theatres continue to be rewarded for the wonder of talent they provide to this industry, on stage and off.”

“It is draining when you have a child, and there aren't many women directors with kids out there as role models.”

“I am still very observant. I am absorbed by people and why they do what they do.”