Henry James and The Outcry

Abstract

Early in 1909 the American producer, Charles Frohman, began to lay plans for a repertory season in London at the Duke of York's Theatre. The moving spirit behind the plan was J. M. Barrie. He enlisted the aid of those men who had contributed to the success of the repertory movement in England which, even before the turn of the century, had begun to breathe new life into the British stage. Harley Granville-Barker, whose management with John E. Vedrenne of the Court Theatre had played an eminent role in establishing the reputation of Bernard Shaw and had introduced several new playwrights to the British public (including Granville-Barker himself), joined their ranks. They engaged the discriminating services of Allan Wade, who had worked with Granville-Barker and, at the moment, was in charge of the Abbey Theatre's season in London. Shaw, John Galsworthy, Somerset Maugham, John Masefield, and Henry James were invited to write plays. Shaw wrote Misalliance , Galsworthy Justice , Henry James The Outcry , while Granville-Barker contributed The Madras House . Barrie wrote two one-act plays, The Twelve-Pound Look and Old Friends , and arranged George Meredith's unfinished comedy, The Sentimentalists , for the stage.