"You listen to the audience. The audience is wrong individually and always right collectively. If they don't laugh, it isn't funny. If they cough, it isn't interesting. If they walk out, you are in trouble."

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Source: Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

About the author

Peter Stone

Playwright

Peter Stone was a renowned American playwright and screenwriter, best known for his impactful work '12 Angry Men,' which explores themes of justice and truth.

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"I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a congress."

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"At early previews, the theater gossips are there, wishing you ill every night. They don't grant you any slack. Agents are in from Hollywood. Your friends are there. People who are going to spread the word-of-mouth. If something doesn't work, everyone will know."

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"It seems to me that everybody who's a success has made a decision to put themselves in a situation that eats away at their privacy. Their hours just don't end. Now, with actors it's extreme, because their privacy is almost nonexistent."

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"Musicals are written and then rewritten. Those things used to happen on the road. Now they are done in New York during preview performances."

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