From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mordaunt Shairp (13 March 1887 – 18 January 1939) was an English dramatist and screenwriter born at Totnes. Educated at St Paul's School, London, and Lincoln College, Oxford, he spent much of his life as a schoolmaster in London and wrote many plays for pupils to perform. His adult plays dealt with darker interpersonal relationships and The Green Bay Tree (premièred at St Martin's Theatre in London's West End on 25 January 1933 and also performed on Broadway) was originally controversial because of its gay subtext. Shairp also spent a short spell in Hollywood as a screenwriter. He died at Hastings.