Sam Gold

Like after the close-up, it's hard to sit at the back of a 1,000-seat, 2,000-seat theater. And at Circle in the Square, everybody's in a close-up. There's no bad – there are zero bad seats at Circle in the Square. And so you get that experience because I'm trying to do these plays that I'm saying they're kind of – grief rituals, right?

We're trying to depict a trauma so that the audience can process their own trauma. That's sort of the basic idea. And I think they work a lot better when you can have intimacy, when you can feel close to the actors, when you can feel them breathe. So to me, the smaller the theater, the closer you can be to the actors, the more I'm able to do my job.

We're trying to depict a trauma so that the audience can process their own trauma. That's sort of the basic idea. And I think they work a lot better when you can have intimacy, when you can feel close to the actors, when you can feel them breathe. So to me, the smaller the theater, the closer you can be to the actors, the more I'm able to do my job.

We're trying to depict a trauma so that the audience can process their own trauma. That's sort of the basic idea. And I think they work a lot better when you can have intimacy, when you can feel close to the actors, when you can feel them breathe. So to me, the smaller the theater, the closer you can be to the actors, the more I'm able to do my job.

I mean, mostly what I'm doing is I'm trying to tell a story live with people and use every tool I can to make it as powerful as possible. And film is now deeply embedded in our psyche. But, like, there were all sorts of other kinds of popular entertainments, culture, storytelling that he's engaging with. So I'm just doing what I feel like Shakespeare's doing, you know? You know, wit.

I mean, mostly what I'm doing is I'm trying to tell a story live with people and use every tool I can to make it as powerful as possible. And film is now deeply embedded in our psyche. But, like, there were all sorts of other kinds of popular entertainments, culture, storytelling that he's engaging with. So I'm just doing what I feel like Shakespeare's doing, you know? You know, wit.

I mean, mostly what I'm doing is I'm trying to tell a story live with people and use every tool I can to make it as powerful as possible. And film is now deeply embedded in our psyche. But, like, there were all sorts of other kinds of popular entertainments, culture, storytelling that he's engaging with. So I'm just doing what I feel like Shakespeare's doing, you know? You know, wit.

This idea in Elizabethan England, it's like a game, a sport, a thing to do after school. How are we to understand that when they, when Romeo and Mercutio and Benvolio wit as a verb? Yeah. How are we going to feel the sort of after-school activity of it the way Shakespeare's society did? And so I'm trying to pull from a toolbox. And one is film, you know.

This idea in Elizabethan England, it's like a game, a sport, a thing to do after school. How are we to understand that when they, when Romeo and Mercutio and Benvolio wit as a verb? Yeah. How are we going to feel the sort of after-school activity of it the way Shakespeare's society did? And so I'm trying to pull from a toolbox. And one is film, you know.

This idea in Elizabethan England, it's like a game, a sport, a thing to do after school. How are we to understand that when they, when Romeo and Mercutio and Benvolio wit as a verb? Yeah. How are we going to feel the sort of after-school activity of it the way Shakespeare's society did? And so I'm trying to pull from a toolbox. And one is film, you know.

I kept referencing Quentin Tarantino during the Romeo and Juliet rehearsals. That's a populist, a populist adventurous artist, right? There's something about the way Shakespeare works that sort of reminds me a little bit about the way Quentin Tarantino works. They have some things in common about Shakespeare. willingness to go from something serious to something funny and back quickly.

I kept referencing Quentin Tarantino during the Romeo and Juliet rehearsals. That's a populist, a populist adventurous artist, right? There's something about the way Shakespeare works that sort of reminds me a little bit about the way Quentin Tarantino works. They have some things in common about Shakespeare. willingness to go from something serious to something funny and back quickly.

I kept referencing Quentin Tarantino during the Romeo and Juliet rehearsals. That's a populist, a populist adventurous artist, right? There's something about the way Shakespeare works that sort of reminds me a little bit about the way Quentin Tarantino works. They have some things in common about Shakespeare. willingness to go from something serious to something funny and back quickly.

So you say, like, oh, how am I going to do this? How am I going to go from this super sad moment to this funny moment? And you think, oh, people aren't going to be able to do that. They won't be able to ride that wave. We don't do that anymore. But then I think, no, we do. Like in a Tarantino movie, we do, right? So I use film that way.

So you say, like, oh, how am I going to do this? How am I going to go from this super sad moment to this funny moment? And you think, oh, people aren't going to be able to do that. They won't be able to ride that wave. We don't do that anymore. But then I think, no, we do. Like in a Tarantino movie, we do, right? So I use film that way.

So you say, like, oh, how am I going to do this? How am I going to go from this super sad moment to this funny moment? And you think, oh, people aren't going to be able to do that. They won't be able to ride that wave. We don't do that anymore. But then I think, no, we do. Like in a Tarantino movie, we do, right? So I use film that way.

I think I've maybe overemphasized that what we are making will stand alone, and people will just enter, they'll suspend their disbelief, and they will stop seeing Kendall Roy the second Jeremy enters, and they will start seeing Thomas Stockman. Yeah. I don't know that that's always been successful because you can't rip that away from people.

I think I've maybe overemphasized that what we are making will stand alone, and people will just enter, they'll suspend their disbelief, and they will stop seeing Kendall Roy the second Jeremy enters, and they will start seeing Thomas Stockman. Yeah. I don't know that that's always been successful because you can't rip that away from people.

I think I've maybe overemphasized that what we are making will stand alone, and people will just enter, they'll suspend their disbelief, and they will stop seeing Kendall Roy the second Jeremy enters, and they will start seeing Thomas Stockman. Yeah. I don't know that that's always been successful because you can't rip that away from people.

And listen, theater is too obsessed with celebrity, but it's also saving the theater from financial ruin to be so obsessed with celebrity. And listen, Jeremy Strong was a brilliant actor 20 years before he was in Succession.