Peter O’Toole Truly Loved The Theatre

The late Peter O’Toole waxes eloquent: “I love the theatre, because it’s the art of the moment. I’m in love with ephemera and I hate permanence. Acting is making words into flesh. And I love classical acting, because you need the vocal range of an opera singer, the movement of a ballet dancer and the ability to act – as you turn your whole body into the musical instrument on which you play. It’s more than behaviorism, which is what you get in the movies. Chrissake, what are movies anyway? Just fucking moving photographs – that’s all. But the theatre! Ah, there you have the impermanence that I love. It’s a reflection of life somehow. It’s like building a statue of snow.”

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