To work on any part, the actor has to know everything about his character. Whatever you know about yourself, that's what you need to know about this character. Second, there has to be some action on the stage. You can pick people off the street and ask them to memorize a line, then block them on stage, and it will do. But the dialogue of theatre starts with an actor who can perform the action inside himself in such a way that it affects his partner.
Art deals only with unresolved problems.
When the problem is resolved, it's no longer art. The problem of serfdom was resolved, so now you don't see any plays in Russia about serfs. That's Ivanov's problem, and that's our problem. That's why the play lives. My favorite thing ever.