Waste

by Harley Granville-Barker

Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946) was an English actor, director, producer, critic and playwright. He made his first appearance onstage at the age of 14. In 1900 he became a leading member of the Stage Society and this led to contacts with George Bernard Shaw, William Archer, Elizabeth Robins, and William Poel. His first play, The Marrying of Ann Leete was produced by the Stage Society in 1900 as well. As a playwright, he experimented with form, and proved an extremely gifted writer of dialogue and architect of ideas. His best known plays are The Voysey Inheritance (1905), Waste (1906) and The Madras House (1909). His entire body of plays has been produced at the Shaw Festival in Canada, and has featured strongly in the work of director Sam Walters at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond upon Thames.

Genres: Plays

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Harley Granville-Barker was an English actor, director, producer, critic and playwright.

For more information, see Wikipedia.

Reviews

[lucy snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little bit too much boring politics for me but i thought this was an interesting exploration of how damaging rumour and speculation can be. it is crazy that no one sheds a tear at the death of a woman as a result of a botched abortion, but the suicide of an MP and the 'waste' of his life and work elicits such emotions in the final scene of the play.

not much prolonged attention given to the topic im actually interested in so im not sure how useful it will be but i will say that the stage direction were what made this play. the introduction of each character was detailed and playful, and authorial intrusions throughout were passive aggressive, snide, mocking, humorous. its a shame that this is missed in productions because it adds so much to the text!

[ReneeS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dlouho jsem přemýšlela jak hodnotit. Jiní by nedali ani 3 hvězdičky a možná bych se jim ani nedivila. Místy se text může zdát zastaralý a nudný, ale já viděla, co se stane, když se přesně ty samé věty probudí k životu na jevišti. Nepamatuju si žádnou jinou hru, která by ve mně zanechala tak silný dojem. Když tehdy padla opona a já měla pocit, že mě někdo praštil do žaludku, nemyslela jsem na divadlo, na herce zvučných britských jmen, na provedení, myslela jsem na obsah, na to co se stalo a proč. Dneska už zákulisní pletichaření lordů možná patří do minulého století a člověk má problém vubec pochopit, co se v těch dialozích děje, ale pak příjde poslední část knihy a ta nepotřebuje vysvětlení. Waste je výstižný titul ... skandál, společenský odpad na jedné straně a zbytečně zmařené životy, marnost a ztráta na druhé.

[Angelique · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a WASTE of time - I don't know why I was told to read this - the only positive was how the characters were introduced, it was like reading a well written novel. But yawn, boring men, lively women and f-women, amirite.

[Aaron Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clifford Odets was writing plays in this exact same style thirty years after Granville-Barker was doing it. But HGB's voice, empathy, and his understanding of humanity and even his morality were far superior to Odets'. Waste is solid and smart and tragic. Dated, certainly, but like many of HGB's problem plays, the problems he was interested in discussing have gained currency again and again since the plays were first staged.

[Steve Mayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could've done with a bit of editing. Much too much tell, and not enough show. Dated.