Edith Craig
-
Standard Name: Craig, Edith
Birth Name: Ailsa Edith Geraldine Craig
Nickname: Edy
Self-constructed Name: Ailsa Craig
EC
was primarily a theatre practitioner, known chiefly for her Pioneer Players
, the women's theatre company she founded in 1911. Her literary output was scant. She published a handful of articles on stagecraft, and contributed to a revised edition of her mother Ellen Terry
's memoirs. She also wrote one unpublished play for children. Her unpublished papers—correspondence, prompt books, and playbills—document her significant contribution to feminist theatre history.
Connections
Connections | Author name Sort descending | Excerpt |
---|---|---|
Family and Intimate relationships | Christopher St John | CSJ
and Edith Craig
rented a flat together at 7 Smith Square, Westminster, in London; they lived together, there and elsewhere, until Craig's death in 1947. Auerbach, Nina. Ellen Terry: Player in Her Time. W.W. Norton. 480 Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago. 115 Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell. 61-2 |
Friends, Associates | Christopher St John | In 1933 Vita Sackville-West
formally introduced CSJ
and Edith Craig
to Virginia Woolf
.Woolf was not as fascinated by St John as she was by Craig and Terry, and saw her as a burden on... |
Residence | Christopher St John | |
Family and Intimate relationships | Christopher St John | Shortly before St John's death, she burned most of Craig
's papers. According to Ellen Terry's biographer, Nina Auerbach: Whether Christopher's bonfire was a response to Edy's expressed wish, or a gesture of murderous irony... |
Health | Christopher St John | After CSJ
learned of Martin Shaw
's marriage proposal to Edith Craig
, she attempted suicide, taking an overdose of cocaine. Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell. 62-3 Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago. 116 |
Textual Features | Christopher St John | This thinly disguised autobiographical fiction (both roman à clef and bildungsroman) depicts a lesbian or invert relationship at a time when public attention to unorthodox sexual relationships (following such attention by sexologists), was on the... |
Residence | Christopher St John | CSJ
and Edith Craig
rented a residence in London, a third-floor flat at 31 Bedford Street, Covent Garden; this flat became a refuge for suffragists just out of prison or wanted by police. Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell. 81 Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago. 121-2 Auerbach, Nina. Ellen Terry: Player in Her Time. W.W. Norton. 407 |
Textual Production | Christopher St John | The Theatre of the Soul's greatest innovations on the English stage lay in its representation of female desire through the character of a female dancer and in the use of innovative stage lighting techniques... |
politics | Christopher St John | Sime Seruya
established the International Suffrage Shop
as a feminist publisher and bookseller; it operated out of CSJ
and Edith Craig
's home in Bedford Street. Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell. 87 |
Performance of text | Christopher St John | This had reached print bearing the date of 1911. Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true. |
Family and Intimate relationships | Christopher St John | CSJ
's and Edith Craig
's household expanded to include the painter Tony (Clare) Atwood
; the three lived together in Smallhythe Place and London for the rest of their lives. Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell. 124, 181 |
Occupation | Christopher St John | After the death of Ellen Terry
, Edith Craig
and CSJ
turned the barn on their property at Smallhythe into a theatre
; the farm they renamed the Ellen Terry Memorial Museum
. Auerbach, Nina. Ellen Terry: Player in Her Time. W.W. Norton. 400, 453 |
Friends, Associates | Christopher St John | CSJ
, Edith Craig
, and Tony Atwood
spent much time in the company of Radclyffe Hall
and Una Troubridge
, who were staying temporarily in Kent while their house was being renovated. Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell. 161 |
Leisure and Society | Christopher St John | CSJ
and Edith Craig
hosted a reading of The Land performed by its author, Vita Sackville-West
. Glendinning, Victoria. Vita. Penguin. 251 |
Leisure and Society | Christopher St John | The Annual Ellen Terry Memorial Performance was held at the Barn Theatre
, Smallhythe: the three women commemorated were Ellen Terry
, Edith Craig
, and Virginia Woolf
. Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell. 176 |
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