Phyllida Lloyd

“In the theatre in the U.K., women are at the very top of the tree as freelance directors.”

“I realised you could become fat and bald as a director and still remain employable.”

“In a way, the debate about Margaret Thatcher in Britain has just gotten fossilized in this notion that she is either this she-devil who wrecked the industrial base of the country and ruined the lives of millions, or she is the blessed Margaret who saved the nation and rescued us from our post-war decline.”

“To have Hollywood tell me or other women like me that we're not a market that interests them is silly. Good stories work.”

“It was extraordinary to experience 'Mamma Mia!' What an injection of good spirit and heart it was.”

“Art is all about giving yourself these terrifying challenges, these peaks to climb. You're at the bottom of the mountain at the start of every new project thinking, 'Am I going to make it?'”

“Onstage, there's a separation between character and audience; onscreen, you can go to a deeper place.”

“I think courage is commensurate with your fear - if you lack imagination and you're fearless, that's not courage to me.”

“When I was asked to read a screenplay about Margaret Thatcher, I think I felt immediate apprehension.”

“I started working in London, and I've been free-lance ever since.”

“In London, it's quite a rarefied activity to be on an analyst's couch.”

“I think Margaret Thatcher was a superstar in this country, and I think we all felt we needed a superstar to play her, somebody of huge intelligence, passion, and power and warmth.”

“I think I wanted to do something that retained the improvised chaos of 'Mamma Mia' the theatre show which set it apart from all the slick packaged productions.”

“You can't wait for someone to discover you; you have to just get on and do it. Have confidence that directing is a very suitable job for a woman - with our gift for collaboration, listening, and reading the nuance of things.”

“Margaret Thatcher always felt like an outsider in her party.”

“To be invited to the Park - the greatest free Shakespeare festival in the world - is a great honor, and I don't take it lightly.”

“I was given a mask of myself by Frances Barber when we opened 'Julius Caesar.' I looked much younger and prettier. Wearing it was certainly cheaper than Botox.”

“I worked on live studio drama, which was one weird aberration in the 1980s. I worked on the 'Battle of Waterloo,' and my job was to reload the Brown Bess muskets - the only time the audience realised it was live was when somebody leant on a button and plunged the whole studio into blackout.”

“Margaret Thatcher was pro-choice. She voted to decriminalize homosexuality. Was not profoundly religious. She was very liberal on social issues.”

“I have been very lucky, and I think it all goes back to state subsidy for the arts. I gained my training and confidence and credentials in the not-for-profit world, and in England, that does not mean on the fringe of things. It means right at the centre.”