Waste

Published to tie in with the revival of this classic play by Harley Granville-Barker at theAlmeida Theatre, 25 Sept - 15 Nov. Radical politician Henry Trebell sees his personal and political lives collide. An affair with a married woman threatens Trebell's power and passionate ideals; her insistence on a woman's right to choose bring private scandal into the public spotlight. Controversially banned by the Lord Chamberlain on its release,Wasteis a rich portrait of early 20th Century society with strong resonances and relevance for today. Widely regarded as the founder of modern British theatre, Harley Granville Barker's work includesThe Madras HouseandThe Voysey Inheritance, recently revived at the National Theatre. It will be directed by Samuel West.

Harley Granville Barker (1877-1946) was the most brilliant British director of the first quarter of the twentieth century. His best known plays, including Waste (banned by the Lord Chamberlain), were written as contributions to his Company's repertoire of provocative modern drama for a subsidised national theatre, a cause he championed in his book A National Theatre: Scheme and Estimates. Waste was first presented by Stage Society, 1907, revised and produced at the Westminster Theatre, 1936. Other plays include The Madras House, first produced at Duke of York's Theatre, 1910, revised 1925 for production at Ambassadors' Theatre; The Secret Life, produced at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, 1989, and His Majesty, first produced at the Edinburgh International Festival at St Bride's Centre by Orange Tree Theatre Company in 1992.