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" Shakespeare was writing about his time, and it was a time when women were beginning to demand a voice, demand a say in their lives for one reason or another, mainly to do with the economics of the time. "

Phyllida Lloyd

Voice

Writing

Beginning

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" 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. "

" There's something about doing Shakespeare with a single gender, whether it is all-male or all-female, that opens up certain possibilities. You are able to throw the behavior of the men into a particular relief and be playful within a slightly larger-than-life way with it. "

" If you're an actor, you have to look spiffing. But as the director, you don't need to look so glamorous. "

" I was hellbent on going to drama school, but my mother, rightly, panicked and persuaded me to go to university on the grounds that a degree would be 'something to fall back on.' Whilst at college, I realised I wasn't good enough or robust enough to be an actress. "

Phyllida Lloyd

Mother

Good

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

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

" 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. "

" One is always attracted to pieces of theatre with great roles for women. "

" 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?' "

" Movie-making is an extreme sport on many levels. It requires stamina such as I had never imagined. "

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

" 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. "

" Margaret Thatcher always felt like an outsider in her party. "

" 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. "

" I didn't really realize I was a woman director until I walked onto the set at Pinewood Studios when I did 'Mamma Mia!' and everybody was calling each other 'Governor' and 'Sir'... and then, looking at me, 'Well... good morning!' "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Do as much theatre as you can while you're at school. "

" When I began to direct, I discovered that I was much more comfortable than I was acting. "

Phyllida Lloyd

Much

Comfortable

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

" I realized that I didn't think I could stand the psychological battering that actors have to withstand. I just felt I wasn't cut out for that kind of self-promotion. "

" 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. "

" Directing is quite a nuts-and-bolts thing. It's a mixture of creating an atmosphere in which actors can feel safe enough to be dangerous. "

" The power of a close-up can be extraordinary, but you have to have actors who are able to reveal themselves. "