Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946)

Harley Granville-Barker (born Harley Granville Barker; 

stage name, Granville Barker) was an English actor-manager, director,  

producer, critic and playwright. Barker made his first debut and appearance 

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  

The Winter's Tale and Twelfth Night for Evelyn Millard; in 1914 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

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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 

V&A