‘The Best Thing I Ever Did on the Stage’: Edward Gordon Craig and the Purcell Operatic Society

Abstract

Although lasting only two and a half years, Edward Gordon Craig’s engagement with the Purcell Operatic Society was his most consistent and productive period of work on the stage. This article re-examines this time during Craig’s life in order to ascertain why he saw it to be the zenith of his career. In particular, it analyzes his work with the amateur group to argue that it was foundational in the development of his approach to theatre-making and, further, helped him to introduce the entity of theatre director to Britain and what the role of such a person could be. By examining this material in relation to wider contextual factors, the article also shows how the group offered audiences an alternative to the dominant ‘star’ system of the early 1900s. The article thus indicates why Craig scholarship needs to place the Purcell Operatic Society at the centre of any of its discussions. Philippa Burt is a lecturer in Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her recent publications include the chapter ‘American Invasions’ in The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre of the First World War (forthcoming, September 2022), as well as articles on Harley Granville Barker and Joan Littlewood in New Theatre Quarterly and Theatre, Dance, and Performer Training.