This chapter explores the beginnings of the British repertory movement and the work of the Manchester Gaiety Theatre. It highlights some of the main aims of the repertory movement by the analysis of developments in Manchester, and reveals Shaw’s pivotal role, as both thinker and playwright, in those early years. I devote particular attention to considering Shaw’s relationship with Annie Horniman, who initiated the repertory seasons in Manchester. I begin with Horniman’s involvement with theatre prior to her arrival in Manchester, including her sponsorship of a season of plays at the Avenue Theatre in 1894, which featured Shaw’s Arms and the Man and was the first production of Shavian drama outside the circle of private societies, in addition to her financial support for the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, a major influence on the British regional repertory companies. In its analysis of events in Manchester, this chapter focuses on several key Shavian productions including performances of Widowers’ Houses and Press Cuttings. As this analysis demonstrates, Shaw was a key playwright at the Gaiety with his plays often featured in the theatre’s repertoire. In addition to the acting style present at this theatre, which suited Shaw’s plays, Horniman and her artistic director, Iden Payne, also shared with Shaw an interest in a more austere and less flamboyant style of staging than that dominating the West End. This approach was ideally suited to Shaw’s earlier more realistic drama.