| Description | The typescript has been annotated for grammar or delivery and recalls Irving's previous invitation to speak to the Guild in the 1930s on Convention or Realism in Stage Design, in the seventh year of his stage design career and the opportunity this lecture gave him to confront George Bernard Shaw,who had played out a rivalry with Sir Henry Irving throughout his life. The main body of the lecture discusses Laurence's own art training and his entry into the field of scenic design in 1926 working on a revue with A.A. Milne and Fraser Simpson, which included a ballet with Anton Dolin making his first appearance as a principal dancer in London. The lecture also discusses Laurence Irving's friendships with other theatre designers including Charles Ricketts, George Harris and Edward Gordon Craig and his work for Douglas Fairbanks in Hollywood. |