John Irving Wardle (born 20 July 1929) is an English writer and theatre critic.

Biography

Wardle was born on 20 July 1929 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, the son of John Wardle and his wife Nellie (Partington). His father was drama critic on the ''

Bolton Evening News ''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and online every day, it is pa ...

'', and a regular performer at the Bolton Little Theatre. Wardle was educated at Bolton School,

Wadham College Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

Oxford and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

. While at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, Wardle participated in theatre, performing in a production of '' The Tempest'' alongside the actors

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and '' Chariots of F ...

and Jack May, the future directors

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

and Bill Gaskill, and Mary Moore, the future principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford. Wardle's early appointments included an anonymous fortnightly review spot on the ''Bolton Evening News'', beginning in 1958. He worked as a sub-editor on ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', 1956–; as deputy theatre critic (to

Kenneth Tynan Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of ...

) on ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', 1959–63; drama critic for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' 1963–89; editor of ''Gambit'' 1973–75; theatre critic for ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published ...

'' 1989–95. More recently he has written articles for magazines such as '' Prospect'' and ''

The Oldie ''The Oldie'' is a British monthly magazine written for older people "as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity", according to its website. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who was its edit ...

''. He has published two books; a biography ''The Theatres of

George Devine George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film. Early life and education ...

'' (Jonathan Cape, 1978) and ''Theatre Criticism'' (Routledge, 1992). His first play, ''The Houseboy'', was performed at the

Open Space Theatre The Open Space Theatre was created by Charles Marowitz and Thelma Holt in 1968. It began in a basement on Tottenham Court Road in London, then transferred to an art deco post office on the Euston Road in 1976. Thelma attracted a team of voluntee ...

in 1973. The play is semi-autobiographical, based on Wardle's experience from a part-time job washing dishes at a London guest house. The production was directed by

Charles Marowitz Charles Marowitz (26 January 1934 – 2 May 2014) was an American critic, theatre director, and playwright, regular columnist on Swans Commentary. He collaborated with Peter Brook at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and later founded and direct ...

and the cast included

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carte ...

. A television production was made for ITV's ''Playhouse'' season and screened on 3 July 1982, directed by Christopher Hodson. The cast was Stephen Garlick,

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians * Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pa ...

Richard Pasco Richard Edward Pasco, (18 July 1926 – 12 November 2014) was a British stage, screen and TV actor. Early life Pasco was born in Barnes, London, the only child of insurance company clerk Cecil George Pasco (1897-1982) and milliner Phyllis Ir ...

and

Earl Rhodes Earl Rhodes (born July 1962) is an English former television and cinema actor, who was active professionally from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s. Acting career Rhodes first appeared on British television at the age of 14 years old in the British ...

. He was honoured in 2004 at the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre. Wardle was a close friend of the writer Harold Pinter, for whose work he coined the phrase "comedies of menace". The two met after Wardle reviewed Pinter's "The Birthday Party" in 1958, and an impressed Pinter wrote to compliment him on his critical sensibility.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardle, Irving 1929 births Living people Alumni of the Royal College of Music Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British theatre critics People educated at Bolton School

External Links

Irving Wardle Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...