Written in 1907 and revised in 1926, it takes its time (just over three hours), but encompasses a vast amount: English smugness and hypocrisy, the intricacies of power and the danger of divorcing campaigning idealism from emotional fulfilment. Granville Barker's skill lies in his seamless blend of private and public life . . . You emerge wrung through from a play that is not only the source of much state-of-the-nation drama but also, I suspect, Granville Barker's own self-indictment.
Michael Billington
Guardian
When the Lord Chamberlain gave the thumbs down to Harley Granville Barker's play about a politician's adulterous affair in 1907, was it the drama's references to abortion that spooked him? Or was it in fact the playwright's breathtaking cynicism about politics? It is that clear-eyed scepticism that gives the play its modern appeal.
Financial Times
The story at the heart of Harley Granville Barker's Waste - that of a political idealist brought low by scandal - has not dated one jot since the day it was written in 1907 or indeed since its first performance in 1936.
What's On Stage
a remarkable play in its combination of sex, politics and religion. . . . in addition to acute psychological understanding, [Barker] shows a laser-like eye for the hypocrisies and shifting alliances of political life. . . . this is a play that deserves packed houses for its unsparing dissection of the ongoing English malaise.
Guardian
Sex, sleaze, death, hypocrisy and loads of political humour.
The Times
phenomenally shrewd and clued-up
Independent
so packed with fascinating ideas
Daily Mail
An important play, for sure, and one with echoes in the modern era
Time Out London
A chilling example of the heartless art of politics.
Mail on Sunday