John Irving Wardle (20 July 1929 – 23 February 2023) was an English theatre critic and author. He wrote about theatre for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' from 1959 to 1963, for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' from 1963 to 1989, and 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 publishe ...

'' from 1989 to 1995.

Early life

Wardle was born on 20 July 1929 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Lancashire, the son of John Wardle and his wife Nellie (Partington). His father was an actor who became a drama critic on the '' Bolton Evening News''. Wardle was educated at Bolton School,

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

, and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) 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 pe ...

. While at Oxford, Wardle participated in theatre, performing in a production of ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' 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 Fir ...

and Jack May, the future directors

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...

and Bill Gaskill, and Mary Moore, the future principal of

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College (full name = Principal and Council of St. Hilda's College, Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon saint Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a ...

Work

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 ...

'', as deputy theatre critic (to

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

) on ''

'', from 1959 to 1963, as drama critic for ''

'' from 1963 to 1989, editor of ''Gambit'' 1973 to 1975, and as theatre columnist for ''

'' from 1990 to 1995, when his position was eliminated amid financial cuts. Thereafter, he worked as a freelancer, and his later writing appeared in 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 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 volunte ...

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. 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 Pal ...

, Richard Pasco and Earl Rhodes.

Personal life

Wardle's first two marriages, to Joan Notkin in 1958 and to Fay Crowder in 1963, both ended in divorce. He and Crowder had two children. In 1975, Wardle married Elizabeth Grist. They had two children and remained together until his death on 23 February 2023, aged 93. Wardle was a close friend of

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

, 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.

Awards

He was honoured in 2004 at the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre.

References

External links

Irving Wardle Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardle, Irving 1929 births 2023 deaths 20th-century English journalists 21st-century English journalists Alumni of the Royal College of Music Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British theatre critics Journalists from Manchester People educated at Bolton School Place of death missing The Independent people The Observer people The Times journalists