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Daily Inspiration Quote by Gavin MacLeod

"This is a group effort. This is group theatre. This is no big star turn. You could do things with it to do that but it would just be out of kilter. This is one reason I like this play. This is a unit"

About this Quote

MacLeod is pushing back on the easiest narrative in entertainment: the myth of the singular genius who drags a project to greatness. His language is almost stubbornly repetitive, like a stage manager taping down cables: group effort, group theatre, no big star turn. It reads as a credo and a warning. Yes, you could juice the material for a showboating showcase, but it would be "out of kilter" - not just aesthetically wrong, but socially corrosive. That phrase carries backstage politics in two words: one actor grabbing focus doesn t only distort the story, it distorts the working ecology that makes the story possible.

The subtext is also career-aware. MacLeod came up in an era when television ensembles (and repertory-minded theatre) trained audiences to care about relationships, not just leads. His affection for "this play" is really affection for a system where status is negotiated through craft and timing, not publicity. "Unit" is the key term: it implies discipline, shared responsibility, even a kind of moral order. In the acting world, calling a cast a unit is a way of laundering ambition into professionalism - you re still competing, but you re competing to support the whole.

Culturally, it s an argument against the celebrity economy creeping into every corner of art. MacLeod is defending the ensemble as an ethic: the idea that the most satisfying performances are often the ones that know when not to perform.

Quote Details

TopicTeamwork
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
MacLeod, Gavin. (2026, January 15). This is a group effort. This is group theatre. This is no big star turn. You could do things with it to do that but it would just be out of kilter. This is one reason I like this play. This is a unit. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/this-is-a-group-effort-this-is-group-theatre-this-59214/

Chicago Style
MacLeod, Gavin. "This is a group effort. This is group theatre. This is no big star turn. You could do things with it to do that but it would just be out of kilter. This is one reason I like this play. This is a unit." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/this-is-a-group-effort-this-is-group-theatre-this-59214/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"This is a group effort. This is group theatre. This is no big star turn. You could do things with it to do that but it would just be out of kilter. This is one reason I like this play. This is a unit." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/this-is-a-group-effort-this-is-group-theatre-this-59214/. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.

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Gavin MacLeod on Ensemble Theatre
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About the Author

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Gavin MacLeod (born February 28, 1930) is a Actor from USA.

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