Edward Gordon Craig was born in London in 1872, he was a director, set designer, lighting designer and theorist who influenced many of today's practitioners.
He is often seen as the antidote to the Naturalistic theatre style that was happening during the turn of the century. As the Greek for 'Theatre' means 'to see' as oppose to 'to hear', he was a firm believer in visual theatre, as oppose to naturalistic and realistic theatrical interpretations. Despite this eventual viewpoint, it is worth noting early on in his career he worked with Stanislavski on a production on Hamlet.
He created sets that often showed moods, which appealed to the emotions rather than visual suggestion. This use of symbolism in his sets continued in his use of movements on stage.
He believed masks to be a powerful tool of dramatic expression and was a fan of puppets, particularly the Marionette.
