Edward Gordon Craig

Edward Henry Gordon Craig (born Edward Godwin; 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966), was an English modernist theatre practitioner; Part of the Terry family and son of the actress Ellen Terry, he worked as an actor in his youth before becoming a director and scenic designer, and he developed an influential body of theoretical writings.

The Gordon Craig Theatre, built in Stevenage, England (the town of his birth), was named in his honour in 1975.

Early life and education

The illegitimate son of the architect Edward Godwin and the actress Ellen Terry, Craig was born Edward, after his father, on 16 January 1872 in Railway Street, Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, England. Nicknamed Ted, he was not officially given a surname; he was baptised at age 16 as Edward Henry Gordon, after his godparents Sir Henry Irving and Lady Gordon. He and his sister Edith each chose the surname Craig by 1888 after admiring Ailsa Craig, an island off the coast of Scotland, while there on holiday; he finalised it officially by deed poll at age 21.

Unlike his sister, Craig was not fond of their stepfather, from 1877 to 1881, the actor Charles Clavering Wardell, although he was a kind to them. The children used the surname Wardell during that time, however, to deflect the stigma of illegitimacy. From 1879, Craig spent much of his childhood backstage at the Lyceum Theatre, where his mother was the leading lady to Henry Irving from 1878. Irving was fond of Terry's children, and in 1930 Craig wrote a book-length tribute to Irving. He attended Bradfield College in Berkshire from May 1886 to July 1887 He later attended Heidelberg University but was also expelled there.