About the Book:

HARD TO FIND BOOK, only a very limited number of copies are still available.

Unrivalled practical insights from one of the most influential actors and directors of Shakespeare of all time.

Harley Granville-Barker provides invaluable insights into the plays of Shakespeare. His Preface to The Merchant of Venice is an ideal study guide for students, teachers and anyone acting or directing Shakespeare's work. As Ian McKellen says, "If you can't see Shakespeare in the theatre, read Granville Barker instead. He is the century's most perceptive director of Shakespeare."

Preface to The Merchant of Venice examines the play in intricate detail, looking closely at characters, plot and language, and with a particular emphasis on the meaning that can be gleaned through the text and a fluency of staging. This classic – and most practical – pocket-format volume is ideal for use in study or rehearsal room.

What people say:

"I regard Granville Barker not only as the first modern English director but as the most influential." — Richard Eyre, theatre director

"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, theatre director

"Superficial criticism is often taken seriously, then swept away as fashions change. Granville Barker's deep and penetrating intelligence illuminates his observations, and they remain permanently relevant." — Peter Brook, theatre director

"Really the first person to talk about Shakespeare in a dramaturgical, rather than a literary, manner. And as such, of course, a central figure in the creation of the modern classical theatre." — Adrian Noble

"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

About the Author:

Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946) was a renowned playwright, director and actor, most famously known for being one of the most influential actors and directors of Shakespeare of all time. Passionate about the value of theatre and committed to exploring ways of revitalizing how plays are staged, when Barker retired from the theatre, he wrote The Prefaces to Shakespeare.