There are always discussions about casting stars in lead roles in theater - especially when you're working with commercial producers - and it's not something I'm against, not at all. But any casting has to be right for the project.
I hate rules. I hate 'This is the way things are done'. I hate a lack of reinvention. I hate theatre as an archeological exercise. Theatre needs to be urgent.
Usually, in theatre, you're adapting existing material or creating an entirely new play. With the 'Cursed Child,' we have been given the unique opportunity to explore some of the most cherished books and beloved characters ever written, yet work with J. K. Rowling to tell a story from that world that no one yet knows - it's exhilarating.
I worked on new plays at the Traverse and did my best work in Scotland for years, so I never had ambitions for things like Disney.
'Thou shalt not bore' is a commandment that should be at the centre of our ambitions.
I realise that there's something about fantasy, whether it's written by the Grimm Brothers or J. K. Rowling or Thorne or J. M. Barrie, that it gets closer to the human experience than realism every could.
