"It's a good story. But why do we bother with stories--dramas, especially the dramas? Isn't that ridiculus that grown men dress up as kings, even more ridiculously--queens. The people they come and see it, and they laugh, but they weep. They weep with us. Why do they do it? ...Real life keeps going on and on. The endings aren't right and the villians aren't caught.  It's stormy seas and dark days. We sit here in this barn playing fictions for willing dreamers, and it's false. It's hot air, and I need it when I have nothing else to say. I need it when I have a horse for a heart, and it won't stop running and pounding and running me down. I need it!"

John Heminges in The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson.

The stories, the dramas, the comedies-satirical and slapstick, the duels even the ditties and the dances, I need them all! The theater has become the place where I can be myself; which is ironic, because the reason I am here is to pretend to be someone else. It is a place to explore the creativity of a story and the emotions that make us who we are. Stories are played out here every day; a million lives are lived in three hours, and I want to experience them all. Every time I step out on stage I strive to do my best, never leaving any stone unturned or audience member untouched. I want to continue dedicating myself to perfecting my craft and bringing as many characters to life as I can