Edward Gordon Craig
Edward Henry Gordon Craig[notes 1] CH OBE (born Edward Godwin; 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966), sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director and scenic designer, as well as developing an influential body of theoretical writings. Craig was the son of actress Dame Ellen Terry.
For other people with the same name, see Edward Craig (disambiguation).
Edward Gordon Craig
Edward Godwin
16 January 1872
Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England
29 July 1966 (aged 94)
Vence, France
Stage designer, theatre director, theatre theorist, actor
On The Art of the Theatre (1911)
The Mask (1908–1929)
MAT production of Hamlet (1911–1912)
Elena Meo
Isadora Duncan
12
The Gordon Craig Theatre, built in Stevenage (the town of his birth), was named in his honour in 1975.
Pseudonyms[edit]
While often working under his own name, Craig also signed work with a large number of other names, including Oliver Bath, Julius Oliver, Giulio Pirro, Samuel Prim, and Stanislas Lodochowskowski.[7]
The Art Record noted in 1901 that Oliver Bath was "a gentleman who is believed to subsist on an exclusive diet of the famous Bath Oliver Biscuit".[8]
Archives and legacy[edit]
Craig's archive was purchased by Hans Posse on instructions from Adolf Hitler, for Hitler's planned Führermuseum in Linz, Austria. The purchase price was nearly 2.4 million French francs.[16]
One of the largest collections of Edward Gordon Craig's papers is held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. The 32-box collection includes Craig's diaries, essays, reviews, notes, manuscripts, financial records, and correspondence.[17] Over 130 personal photographs are present in the archive.[18] The Ransom Center's art holdings including some of Craig's woodblocks from the Cranach Press Hamlet as well as proof prints made during production of the book. The center's library holds over 300 books from Craig's personal collection.[19] In addition to the archive of Edward Gordon Craig, the Ransom Center holds important holdings relating to Craig's mother Ellen Terry, as well as the archive of his son Edward Carrick.
A play by David Hare, to premiere in 2025 and starring Ralph Fiennes as Henry Irving, Grace Pervades, explores the life of Irving, Terry, Craig and his sister Edith.[20]
The Edward Gordon Craig Lecture[edit]
The Society of Theatre Research offers the annual Edward Gordon Craig lecture in conjunction with The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.[21]
Source: Edward Gordon Craig: A Bibliography (Society For Theatre Research) 1967. [22]