Trevor Nunn Quotes

Powerful Trevor Nunn for Daily Growth

About Trevor Nunn

Trevor Nunn OBE (born October 13, 1940) is a distinguished English theatre director, actor, and author, renowned for his significant contributions to British theatre. Born in London, Nunn grew up in a family that valued the arts, fostering his early interest in drama. He received his education at King's College Cambridge, where he co-founded ADF (Amateur Dramatic Federation) with actor Peter Hall, which later became the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Nunn's professional career began in 1962 when he joined the RSC as an assistant director. In 1968, at just 27 years old, he was appointed artistic director of the company, a position he held until 1986. During his tenure, he directed groundbreaking productions of Shakespeare's plays, including "Hamlet" starring David Warner in 1969 and Judi Dench's Cleopatra in 1972. In 1986, Nunn became the director of the National Theatre, where he staged successful productions of works by Ibsen, Chekhov, and Shaw. In 1997, he returned to the RSC as an associate artistic director. As a playwright, Nunn penned several works, including "The Love-Charm of Lapage" (1964), which won the John Whiting Award for Best New Play, and "A Month in the Country" (1985). He also co-authored musicals like "Cats" (1981) with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Throughout his career, Nunn has received numerous accolades, including three Tony Awards and two Olivier Awards. His influence on British theatre is immeasurable, and he continues to direct and write for the stage today. Notable quotes by Trevor Nunn include, "Theatre is about truth," and "The first rehearsal of a play is the beginning of its creation."

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Theatre is a collaboration between the living and the dead."

Trevor Nunn's quote, "Theatre is a collaboration between the living and the dead," suggests that the art of theatre is a fusion of the present-day creativity and talent of actors, playwrights, and technicians with the timeless wisdom, stories, and ideas left by past generations. In essence, every performance breathes life into ancient tales, characters, and concepts while also being influenced by them. This connection to the past imbues theatre with a sense of tradition, depth, and enduring relevance.


"The great theatre directors create not in isolation but in collaboration with actors, designers, writers, producers, technicians - all of whom are part of the storytelling process."

This quote emphasizes that successful theater direction is a collaborative effort involving various contributors such as actors, designers, writers, producers, and technicians. The director plays a key role in storytelling but doesn't work alone; instead, they work closely with others to bring the vision to life, ensuring that each element contributes to the overall narrative and impact of the production. This collaboration fosters creativity, diverse perspectives, and enriches the end product, making theater a collective art form.


"A director is like a bridge, built over a chasm that separates an audience from the creative act."

The quote by Trevor Nunn suggests that a director's role is crucial in bridging the gap between the complex and sometimes abstract process of creative art (the "creative act") and the audience, who may not fully understand or appreciate the underlying concepts without proper interpretation and presentation. Directors, like a physical bridge, provide access to the creative world for those who are otherwise separated from it, ensuring that the artistic vision is effectively communicated to the viewers.


"Theatre is a public art form, and it's only alive when you have an audience."

Trevor Nunn's quote emphasizes that theatre is not just a performance meant for artists, but it is a communal experience intended for the public. The life of theatre lies in interaction with its audience; their reactions, emotions, and energy are essential components that bring the art form to life. Theatre exists as a shared, living moment between actors and spectators, making it a unique and dynamic medium of expression.


"As a director, you are the keeper of the dream."

In this quote, Trevor Nunn emphasizes that as a director, one's role extends beyond just managing logistics or supervising actors. Instead, they are responsible for preserving and nurturing the vision or "dream" of the production. This dream often encompasses the story's essence, thematic elements, and artistic intent, which the director helps bring to life on stage or screen. They act as a guardian, ensuring that the work remains true to its original spirit while also allowing it to evolve and resonate with contemporary audiences.


So, through all that early professional career I would occasionally do a musical, a pantomime or a play with songs. The next stop would be a Shakespeare, or an Ibsen, or a play by a brand new writer who had never done anything in the theater before.

- Trevor Nunn

Play, Through, Next, Brand

The film director, in many instances, has to swallow somebody else's decision about the final form of something. It's so hard as to be intolerable.

- Trevor Nunn

Decision, Director, Swallow, Intolerable

The first big break was winning a scholarship to go to Cambridge University. I was very lucky, because my parents couldn't have afforded a university education for me. Without a scholarship I couldn't possibly have gone.

- Trevor Nunn

Lucky, Big, Very, Cambridge

Peter Hall was just organizing the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was going to be an ensemble, it was going to be in repertory, it was going to have a home in London as well as in the Midlands, and all of those things were happening at that time.

- Trevor Nunn

London, Going, Hall, Repertory

In a way, I have to have a dictatorship. I can't be told that I'm wrong. That conflicts with what I was saying earlier about listening. It isn't to do with receiving criticism and responding to other views, it's who has that last decision.

- Trevor Nunn

Listening, Other, Last, Dictatorship

You are faced with the choice: either my integrity remains intact and this is the work that ends up on the screen, or I have to leave, and I have to be known to have left.

- Trevor Nunn

Work, Screen, Remains, Faced

If you can't fully believe in your ideas, it very quickly communicates to a group of actors who need something to hold onto. They need to believe that whatever criticism, whatever comment is received, is meant.

- Trevor Nunn

Need, Very, Meant, Fully

The thing that I had saved up for myself and wanted most to bring off was a fully fledged professional production of Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford.

- Trevor Nunn

Saved, Production, Hamlet, Fully

In my early years, my father was away as a soldier in the war. When he came back, work was very difficult to come by. Even though he was a highly skilled man, a maker of furniture, the payment for that work was very poor.

- Trevor Nunn

Father, Away, Very, Highly

In my teens, I developed a passionate idolatry for a teacher of English literature. I wanted to do something that he would approve of more, so I thought I should be some sort of a scholar.

- Trevor Nunn

Thought, Passionate, Some, Approve

In the commercial theater, I've been pretty fortunate. The producers that I've worked with have allowed me to define the artistic integrity, the artistic limits of the work.

- Trevor Nunn

Pretty, Commercial, Been, Limits

A lot of performing instincts are involved in the business of direction, but so is analysis and having a sense of literature.

- Trevor Nunn

Literature, Lot, Having, Instincts

One fine day I discovered that more complex plays really have to be directed.

- Trevor Nunn

Discovered, Directed, Plays, Fine Day

I've experienced a private doubt, something that I've kept deeply inside, and then eventually delivered a piece of work that people responded to with huge enthusiasm.

- Trevor Nunn

Work, Doubt, Private, Experienced

What you're doing is putting into professional play the way that you relate to other people, the way that you analyze and relate to a written text, the way that you would persuade anybody to do anything. It has to do with listening, with humility and a sense of yourself.

- Trevor Nunn

Listening, Play, Doing, Analyze

When I was at Stratford, the very first thing that I was commissioned to work on was trying to make a musical out of the documentary material about the General Strike, which was the next big historical event in England, after the First World War.

- Trevor Nunn

Big, Next, Very, First World War

If you're a director, your entire livelihood and your entire creativity is based on your self-confidence. Sometimes that's dangerously close to arrogance.

- Trevor Nunn

Sometimes, Director, Based, Livelihood

I had a feeling about Shakespeare's soliloquies, that there should be a real exchange between the actor and the audience.

- Trevor Nunn

Audience, Actor, About, Shakespeare

I've just taken the decision that I'm going to now go full time back into the theater.

- Trevor Nunn

Decision, Go, Going, Full Time

I would be terribly disappointed if anything would get in the way of my being cast in something, or if performances were canceled. It was a fix that I obviously needed.

- Trevor Nunn

Needed, Terribly, Obviously, Disappointed

I've never had any feeling of disconnection between the classical theater, or the contemporary theater, or musical theater, or the thing that we call opera.

- Trevor Nunn

Opera, Musical, Classical, Contemporary

I so wanted to perform, and I grasped every opportunity.

- Trevor Nunn

Wanted, Every Opportunity, Grasped

I always believe it's better to have 30 imaginations working on a project, rather than one imagination telling the other 29 what to do.

- Trevor Nunn

Always, Other, Telling, Imaginations

I tend to arrive in the rehearsal process with very strongly developed ideas about what I want to do. But I don't like those ideas to be things that are not subject to change, or subject to development, or subject to challenge.

- Trevor Nunn

Process, Development, Very, Arrive

When I was 13 years old, a professional theater company in my town needed a kid actor. I auditioned, and I got the part, so for just a few weeks I became a member of the company and I met some professional actors.

- Trevor Nunn

Some, Became, Weeks, Member

If you feel very deeply about something, it's not possible to sacrifice your integrity about that.

- Trevor Nunn

Integrity, Very, About, Sacrifice

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