On Soapboxes

Don’t be pedantic. Never use your play as a soapbox. Have a message, by all means, but have it naturally and subtly. Don’t let your protagonist break out of character and make a speech. The audience will quiver in embarrassed empathy and take refuge in laughter. … You need not make a speech to make a protest.

—Jeanne Michael, as quoted by Lajos Egri in The Art of Dramatic Writing

Further Reading: The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri