''Waste'' is a play by the English author

Harley Granville Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...

. It exists in two wholly different versions, from 1906 and 1927. The first version was refused a licence by the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...

and had to be performed privately by the Stage Society in 1907; the second was finally staged in public at the

Westminster Theatre The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Ri ...

in 1936.

Plot

The plot centres around ambitious independent politician Henry Trebell, his plans for a bill to

disestablish The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and his fall from grace and suicide after his affair with married woman Amy O'Connell, who dies after a botched

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. The title may refer to the waste of his potential talents due to the scandal, the loss of the disestablishment bill and the termination of Amy's pregnancy.

Dramatis personae (1927 version)

*Gilbert Wedgecroft, Trebell's doctor *Walter Kent, Trebell's secretary *Amy O'Connell, Trebell's lover *Russell Blackborough, Tory MP and financier *Justin O'Connell, Amy's estranged Irish husband *Lord Charles Cantilupe, Tory MP *Henry Trebell, Independent and later Tory MP *Lady Mortimer, Lady Julia's mother *Bertha, the Trebells' maid *Frances Trebell, Henry's sister *Cyril Horsham, Tory Prime Minister *Lucy Davenport, Kent's fiancee *Butler at the Farrant residence *Vivian Saumarez, Horsham's secretary *George Farrant, Tory MP *Lady Julia Farrant, George's wife

Production history

Recent productions include John Barton's in 1985 for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

, with Daniel Massey as Trebell and

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

as Amy, one in 1997 at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

by the Peter Hall Company (with

Michael Pennington Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington (born 7 June 1943) is a British actor, director and writer. Together with director Michael Bogdanov, he founded the English Shakespeare Company in 1986 and was its Joint Artistic Director until 1992. He has writt ...

as Trebell,

Anna Carteret Anna Carteret (born 11 December 1942) is a British stage and screen actress. Biography Carteret was born as Annabelle S. Wilkinson on 11 December 1942 in Bangalore, British India, the daughter of Peter John Wilkinson and his wife Patricia Ca ...

as Frances and

Peter Blythe Peter Blythe (14 September 1934 – 27 June 2004) was an English character actor, probably best known as Samuel "Soapy Sam" Ballard in ''Rumpole of the Bailey''. Early life Born in Yorkshire, Blythe studied drama on scholarship at the Roya ...

as Charles Cantilupe) and a well-received one at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...

(directed by

Samuel West Samuel Alexander Joseph West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor, narrator and theatre director. He has directed on stage and radio, and worked as an actor across theatre, film, television and radio. He often appears as reciter with orche ...

and starring

Will Keen Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

as Trebell,

Nancy Carroll Nancy Carroll (born Ann Veronica Lahiff; November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965) was an American actress. She started her career in Broadway musicals and then became an actress in sound films and was in many films from 1927 to 1938. She was t ...

as Amy and

Phoebe Nicholls Phoebe Sarah Nicholls (born 1957) is an English film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in ''Brideshead Revisited'' and as the mother of John Merrick in ''The Elephant Man''. Personal life Nicholls i ...

as Frances). Recent North American productions include one in 1995 at the

Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a not-for-profit theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America. The Shaw Festival was founded in 1962. Originally, it only featured production ...

(directed by Neil Munro) and one in 2000 directed by

Bartlett Sher Bartlett B. Sher (born March 27, 1959) is an American theatre director. ''The New York Times'' has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera".A ...

. In November 2015, the National Theatre revived the play, directed by

Roger Michell Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as ''Notting Hill (film), Notting Hill'' and ''Venus (2006 film), Venus'', as ...

and starring Charles Edwards as Trebell and

Olivia Williams Olivia Haigh Williams (born 26 July 1968) is a British actress who has appeared in British and American films and television. After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakesp ...

as Amy, using the 1927 version of the text. The first radio production was produced by Val Gielgud on the Third Programme in 1947 and starred Andrew Cruickshank. Stephen Murray starred in a 1959 version of 1947 adaptation on the Home Service. The most recent dramatisation was broadcast on the World Service in 1995 and featured Rachel Weisz, Penelope Wilton and Timothy West.

Notes

External links

Full text of ''Waste'' (1906 version) at HathiTrust Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waste (Play) English plays 1906 plays Political fiction 1927 plays Censored works