Michael Coveney (born 24 July 1948) is a British theatre critic.

Education and career

Coveney was born in London and educated at St Ignatius’ College,

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the ...

, and

Worcester College Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

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 ...

. After graduation, he worked as a script reader for the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

and from 1972 he contributed theatre reviews to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

''. He was deputy editor (1973–75) and editor (1975–78) of '' Plays and Players'' magazine

Dennis Griffiths Dennis Griffiths (8 December 1933 – 24 December 2015) was a British journalist and historian, regarded as the founding father of newspaper history from the earliest days of Fleet Street. His ''Encyclopedia of the British Press 1422–1992'' has ...

(ed.), ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press 1492–1992'', London and Basingstoke:

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...

, 1992, P. 172. and theatre critic and deputy arts editor of the ''Financial Times'' throughout the 1980s.About Michael Coveney page
at

Nick Hern Books Nick Hern Books is a London-based independent specialist publisher of plays, theatre books and screenplays. The company was founded by the former Methuen drama editor Nicholas Hern in 1988. History Nick Hern Books was founded in June 1988,Sara ...

. He was theatre critic for ''

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 ...

'' from 1990 until he joined the '' Daily Mail'' in 1997, following the death of

Jack Tinker Jack Tinker (15 February 1938 – 28 October 1996) was an English theatre critic. Tinker made his reputation on the '' Brighton Evening Argus'', before becoming theatre critic for the ''Daily Mail'' in 1972 where he worked for twenty-four yea ...

. He remained at the ''Daily Mail'' until 2004. He was chief critic of the theatre website WhatsOnStage.co until retiring from the role in 2016. He is the author of ''The Citz'', a history of the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various ...

(Nick Hern Books, 1990) and '' Maggie Smith: A Bright Particular Star'' (

Victor Gollancz Ltd Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...

, 1993). His book ''The Aisle Is Full of Noises'' (Nick Hern Books, 1994), a diary of a year in the theatre, was withdrawn following complaints of potential libel from

Milton Shulman Milton Shulman (1 September 1913 – 24 May 2004) was a Canadian author, film and theatre critic who was based in the United Kingdom from 1943. Early life Shulman was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of a successful shopkeeper. His parents wer ...

; although, as reported in ''

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 ...

'' of 21 September 1994, Coveney "thought the comments were in the spirit of the book. I rather regret that Milton, of whom I am actually rather fond, didn't take them in that spirit." Most copies of the book had been sold before its withdrawal. In 2011, he published a biography of Ken Campbell, ''The Great Caper''. He has also published a biography of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and a revised edition of his biography of Maggie Smith was published in 2015.

References

Selected publications

*Coveney, Michael, ''The World According to

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

'', (Paperback Edition, London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997, Originally Published: London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996), Includes a "Preface to the Paperback Edition," Pp. xvii–xxiv.

External links

Michael Coveney's Blog at Whatsonstage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coveney, Michael 1948 births Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford British people of Irish descent British theatre critics People educated at St Ignatius' College, Enfield Living people Writers from London