Greville John Poke (19 August 1912 – 4 March 2000) was an arts administrator and a founding member of the English Stage Company.
This led to the foundation of the English Stage Company (ESC) with assistance from the organisers of the festival, Oscar Lewenstein and later George Devine.
In 1954 Poke and Duncan outlined the ESC's vision to Blond, who agreed that he would support them when the company had acquired a theatre.
This needed extensive refurbishment, so the company decided to lease the Royal Court Theatre (RCT) from Esdaile.
Hence he voiced his concerns about the left-wing politics evident in many plays staged by the ESC and what he thought was their pessimistic tone.
Poke, the secretary, William Gaskill, the director and Esdaile, the licensee, were summoned to a hearing at Marlborough Magistrates Court to represent the ESC.
The Lord Chamberlain had denied Saved a licence unless two scenes were cut, including one in which a baby is stoned to death on stage.
To avoid prosecution, Poke proposed that the company stage the play as a dress rehearsal without a ticket charge.
The directors regarded Hilary Spurling, a drama critic working for The Spectator, as disruptive so refused to give her tickets to their production of The Contractor.
As an ex-journalist, he was reluctant to curtail the freedom of the press and was the only person within the ESC to oppose the decision to exclude Spurling.
Poke was correct: the Arts Council stated its objections and newspaper drama critics boycotted Royal Court performances.
Backtracking, the directors admitted that they should have taken Poke’s advice and reinstated the company’s policy of inviting the press to productions.