John Courtenay Trewin (4 December 1908 – 16 February 1990) was a British journalist, writer and drama critic. Trewin was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, although both his parents were Cornish. He was educated at

Plymouth College Plymouth College is a co-educational independent school in Plymouth, Devon. History The school was established in 1877. In 1896 Plymouth College bought Mannamead School (founded in 1854), and was temporarily known as Plymouth and Mannamead Co ...

and in 1926 joined the '' Western Independent'' as a cub reporter. He moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1932 and joined the ''

Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...

'', transferring to ''

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 ...

'' in 1937. He served as drama critic on the paper for more than 60 years. His also wrote a drama column for '' The Listener'' (1951–57), and contributed regular notices to ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

'' (1944–45), '' John O'London's Weekly'' (1945–54), ''

The Sketch ''The Sketch'' was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on roy ...

'' (1947–59), the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'' (1947–88), '' The Lady'' (from 1949) and the ''

Birmingham Post The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...

''.Donald Roy
"Trewin, John Courtenay"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed 24 January 2016. Among other productions, his memoir ''A Play Tonight'', published in 1952 by Elek Books, New York, reviewed the June 1951 revival of the York Mystery Plays, performed for the first time there since 1570 during the York Festival, as part of the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

. ''Paul Scofield'' (1956) was an illustrated study of the actor's work, as was ''John Neville'' (1961) of his work. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in 1981 for services to theatre. He married Wendy Monk (1915–2000), also a critic, in 1938. The couple had two sons, Mark Antony Trewin and

Ion Trewin Ion Courtenay Gill Trewin (13 July 1943 – 8 April 2015) was a British editor, publisher and author. Biography Born in London, the son of J. C. Trewin and Wendy Trewin (''née'' Monk), Ion Trewin was educated at Highgate School. He was the lit ...

(who eventually became the administrator of the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

from 2006). From 2000 to 2015, the John And Wendy Trewin Award For Best Shakespearian Performance was given by

The Critics' Circle The Critics' Circle is the national professional body of British critics for dance, drama, film, music, books and visual arts. It was established in 1913 as a successor to the Society of Dramatic Critics, which was formed in 1906 but had become ...

in memory of Trewin and his wife. In 2016, after their son Ion died, the award was renamed the Trewin Award For Best Shakespearian Performance and the first recipient was

Dame Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

.Critics' Circle website.

Footnotes

Sources

*Donald Roy, "Trewin, John Courtenay", ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

External links

Catalogue of the papers of J. C. Trewin held by the Library of the University of Reading

John Courtenay Trewin 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 ...

1908 births 1990 deaths Writers from Plymouth, Devon English male journalists English people of Cornish descent British theatre critics Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Plymouth College Presidents of the Critics' Circle {{UK-journalist-stub