As a drama critic for more than 40 years, William Archer transformed the Victorian theatre from the home of burlesque and melodrama into the playwright's theatre that is known today. He introduced George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen to the British stage, encouraged Pinero, Wilde, Galsworthy and Granville-Barker, and had a grand affair with one of the greatest actresses of her generation, Elizabeth Robins, who played Hedda Gabler in Archer's own translation of Ibsen's play. This account of William Archer's life (1856-1924), is a portrait of an enigmatic man, a late Victorian whose inexpressive demeanour and iron integrity concealed a passionate and forward-thinking character. Whitebrook writes on theatre for The Scotsman. In 1987 he co-adapted John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and wrote a book on the experience, Staging Steinbeck.