There wasn't anyone in my family who was involved in the theatre. I saw a few amateur plays when I was growing up, but I can't think of anything that happened or anybody in particular who inspired me; it all came from within.

I think women are in much the same place in the Irish theater as they are everywhere else. Certainly, we have wonderful Irish writers, and we have quite a number of Irish women directors. But there could be more, and there should be more.

I still get called 'a stick of dynamite' or 'pint-sized dynamo,' stuff like that. Actually, I was too busy to notice there was anything unusual about being a woman director until the early 1980s, when I looked around the professional theater and realized there weren't many of us. You have to make more of a case for yourself than any man.

I think I'm attracted to writers who tell us something about ourselves.

People who don't know the true character of God - who don't believe He is merciful, gracious and slow to anger - can never have a close, personal, intimate relationship with Him.

Our culture has long mistrusted the body. It's been seen as a confusing blend of God's handiwork and the devil's playground. It is, rather, a vortex of intelligence.

If a prayer is the way we talk to God, if a million people pray, that's got to be one big message.

I think 'Hand to God' is going to change the landscape of Broadway. I think Broadway, truthfully, will never be the same.