Harley Granville-Barker (born Harley Granville Barker;
onstage there at the age of 14. His productions of Shakespeare's plays at the
Savoy Theatre in 1912 and 1914 were highly influential. In 1912 he directed
A Midsummer Night's Dream. Granville Barker did away with "star" system
of acting and instead concentrated on excellence in the entire ensemble. He
directed actors to speak Shakespeare's text rapidly, and used mainly
curtains to create scenery, thus cutting down on the length of
performance. He steered clear of elaborate, historically -
'accurate' scenery and opted instead for symbolic
patterns and shapes on stage. He extended
the stage of the Savoy over the footlights
and onto the first few rows of the stalls;
thus his actors could play on an
open stage, and connect more
closely with the audience
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare,
directed by Harley Granville Barker, Savoy Theatre, London,
England, 1914. Here we see George Burrows and
Donald Calthrop as Oberon and Puck
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