Harley Granville Barker (1877-1946) was an actor, playwright, director and critic, who exerted a major influence on British drama both during and after his lifetime.

"'I still find Granville Barker indispensable after 45 years of using his Prefaces. He is the only critic who consistently treats Shakespeare as a playmaker of living drama, rather than as written texts' Peter Hall; 'Barker offers a learned yet deeply intuitive approach to Shakespeare as a man-of-the-theatre, an act of empathy so complete as to give the illusion that Shakespeare himself has been given the opportunity to say what he was aiming for' Simon Callow; 'Granville Barker's deep and penetrating intelligence illuminates his observations and they remain permanently relevant' Peter Brook"