Granville-Barker, Harley (1877-1946), was an English playwright, actor, producer, and critic. He managed the Royal Court Theatre in London with J. E. Vedrenne from 1904 to 1907. During that time, he made theatrical history by pioneering realistic acting and by introducing the plays of George Bernard Shaw, Henrik Ibsen, and other classical and modern dramatists. From 1912 to 1914, he helped revolutionize the staging of William Shakespeare’s plays through productions that featured an open stage, continuous action, and natural speech.
Granville-Barker’s plays include The Voysey Inheritance (1905), Waste (1907), and The Madras House (1910). They reflect Shaw’s influence in their form and in their emphasis on politics, money-making, and marriage. Granville-Barker also wrote Prefaces to Shakespeare (1927-1947). In this series of essays, he interpreted Shakespeare’s plays both as literary masterpieces and as works for the stage. Granville-Barker was born on Nov. 25, 1877, in London. He died on Aug. 31, 1946.
