The term “well-made play” was coined in about 1825 by the
French dramatist Eugène Scribe, whose ideal of tightly
plotted plays (complete with exposition, peripeteia, and
dénouement) had a tremendous influence throughout the
nineteenth century: its eminent practitioners included
Ibsen, Dumas fils, and Pinero. Rebellion against its
strictures began with G. B. Shaw, who groused, “Why
the devil should a man write like Scribe when he can write
like Shakespeare
or Molière, Aristophanes or Euripides?”
Nevertheless, the genre is an attractive one and has
continued to thrive, whether in or out of fashion, to the
present day.

One of the masters of the well-made play was the
multitalented Harley Granville-Barker (1877–1946),
playwright, actor, producer, director, and Shakespearean
scholar. His drama The Voysey Inheritance (1905) was a
monument of the Edwardian theater, but it has been out of
fashion with producers for many years due to its length
(five acts and four hours—audiences expected value for money
in those days) and expense (Granville-Barker envisioned a
very large cast and numerous scene changes). But the play
recently caught the attention of David Mamet, who had a
success several years ago with his sharp, canny screen
version of another old chestnut, Terence Rattigan’s Winslow
Boy. The Voysey Inheritance deals with the subjects of
greed, cheating, ethical relativism, and family
rivalries—subjects for which Mamet (author of Glengarry
Glen Ross and Wag the Dog, among other delights) has shown
a sharp understanding throughout his career.

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