Harley Granville Barker worked as an actor, director and writer and was to have a major influence on drama in the early 20th century. At the Royal Court Theatre he presented
plays by British and European writers that were shunned by mainstream theatres because of their unacceptable subject matter. His Shakespeare productions at the Savoy Theatre
were groundbreaking in design and concept and Granville Barker was one of the first 20th century directors to create a director’s theatre, bringing together
the increasingly complex elements of theatrical production (text, actors’ performances, design and lighting) into a cohesive whole.
The Royal Court Theatre
After working as an actor in the Shakespearean
productions of William Poel and the Stage
Society, Granville Barker took over management
of the Royal Court Theatre in 1904. He produced works by Ibsen, (whose
work was at that time condemned
by many critics as immoral), Hauptmann,
Galsworthy, Maeterlink, and Schnitzler. Between
1904 and 1907 he staged eleven of George Bernard Shaw’s plays
at the Royal Court. He also produced the
work of feminist writers such as Cicely Hamilton.
Barker was a talented playwright. His plays The Madras House, The Voysey Inheritance and Waste showed concern with contemporary social issues. Indeed Waste was banned by
the Lord Chamberlain because of the inference of illicit affairs and abortion.
The Savoy Theatre
Between 1912 and 1914, Granville Barker directed
three groundbreaking productions: Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth
Night.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1913 divided audiences; some found it a revelation, others merely eccentric. The abstract and evocative set was a far cry from the historic
detail of previous productions. The wood was represented by a green mound sprinkled with white flowers and surrounded by a gauze canopy flickering with fireflies and glowworms.
The background curtains glowed green, blue violet and purple according to mood. Out went the traditional Victorian fairies with wings. Barker’s gilded fairies were
painted with gold leaf (until some actors started having bad skin reactions). They also moved like marionettes, not pretty ballet dancers.
The plays were performed virtually uncut with only one interval of 15 mins. The productions at the Savoy were seen as highly experimental and many people complained that
the actors gabbled their lines and the poetry was lost.
Introduction
The Actresses’ Franchise League and the Pioneer Players
