John Thaxter (11 February 1927 – 30 January 2012) was a British

theatre critic Theatre criticism is a genre of arts criticism, and the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera. Theatre criticism is distinct from drama criticism, as the latter is a division of literary criticism whereas t ...

. Originally an IT professional at

British Telecom BT Group plc (trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, b ...

, he turned to theatre criticism late in life, initially writing reviews for the ''

Richmond and Twickenham Times The ''Richmond and Twickenham Times'' is a weekly local newspaper that was established in 1873 and is published on Fridays. It covers the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London and surrounding areas. It is delivered free to ...

'' and subsequently for ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

'' and ''British Theatre Guide''. He was a member of the London Critics' Circle. He was also a regular contributor to theatre-related articles in the

English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of , has the most arti ...

. Thaxter lived in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

. Three times married and twice widowed, he is survived by two children.Fisher, Philip (1 February 2012)
"Obituary: John Thaxter"
''British Theatre Guide''. Retrieved 3 May 2020.

References

1927 births 2012 deaths British Telecom people British theatre critics Writers from Twickenham {{theat-bio-stub