“He ushered in contemporary drama, drew up the blueprint for a national UK company, and wrote gripping, complex plays, yet Harley Granville-Barker is little known today… Granville-Barker demanded that the text must come first, and that the director, designer and actors must serve it with clarity, lucidity, realism and grace. He established the premise of modern theatre design by showing that scenery had to be expressive and avoid being decorative or literal.”