Harley Granville Barker was one of the more important British playwrights of the early 20th century. The actor-manager famously penned
The Voysey Inheritance, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1905. However, as I was recently reminded by an issue of
The Shavian, he also appeared as an actor in a number of the plays of George Bernard Shaw.
Granville Barker played the poet Eugene Marchbanks is Shaw's
Candida and later Napoleon in
The Man of Destiny. In 1904, Granville Barker played Keegan in
John Bull's Other Island, acting opposite Lillah McCarthy, whom he later married. The two also appeared together the following year in
Man and Superman.
Later in 1905, Granville Barker originated the role of Adolphus Cusins in
Major Barbara. This, however, was without McCarthy. When
Major Barbara proved a disappointment following the successes of
John Bull's Other Island and
Man and Superman, Shaw blamed her absence. Concerned that she might leave the stage after marrying Granville Barker, Shaw wrote to her in a letter that his sole successes had been the two plays in which she had appeared.
Shaw later wrote
Fanny's First Play specifically for McCarthy. The show was a hit, running for 622 performances. Clearly, McCarthy was a darling of the box office, but her husband's feelings for her soon cooled. In 1915, Granville Barker left to tour America with some Shakespeare plays he had directed. There, he fell in love with another woman. When he asked his wife for a divorce, it ended his creative relationship not just with her, but with Shaw as well.
