John Whiting
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John Robert Whiting (15 November 1917 – 16 June 1963) was an English scriptwriter and actor.


Life and career

Born in
Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
, he was educated at
Taunton School Taunton School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, now co-educational, in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18. The current headmaster i ...
, "the particular hellish life which is the English public school" as he described it. Trained at
RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...
, he then worked as an actor in repertory, and while in the company at
Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...
in Devon, met the actress Asthore Lloyd Mawson ("Jackie"). At the start of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, as a lifelong pacifist, he registered as a conscientious objector, but soon after changed his mind and joined the anti-aircraft section of the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
: his wartime experiences as a soldier, which are vividly described in dark detail in diaries written at the time (now held in the V&A theatre museum collection) were to mark a profound change in his life and work. In 1940, he married Jackie; in 1944 he was discharged from the army for undisclosed health reasons. From 1946 until 1952, while writing, he again worked as an actor, as a member of
John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...
's company, and also, in 1951, winning first prize in the Festival of Britain play competition for ''Saint's Day''. As a working actor, he, Jackie and their two young boys led a peripatetic life moving to different lodgings around the country until settling into rooms in Jackie's aunt's house in Barnes, where he was able to find a place in the London theatre world and where his first daughter was born. In 1956, he bought and moved his family to a house in the tiny hamlet of Duddleswell, on Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, and in 1957, his second daughter was born in Crowborough. In Duddleswell, he worked on many plays, film scripts and reviews on a wide mahogany table that had belonged to a hero of his,
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
, writing by hand in a tiny black script adopted from the handwriting of Frederick Rolfe (Baron Corvo), or typing out the pages on a stately German typewriter, often to the accompaniment of a Beethoven piece on a rather modern stereo system.


Works

His works include: * ''No More A-Roving'' (1947) * ''Conditions of Agreement'' (1947) * ''Saint's Day'' (1947–49) * '' A Penny for a Song''. A play (1951) * ''Marching Song''. A play (1953) * ''The Gates of Summer''. A play (1956) * ''No Why'' (1957) * '' The Devils''. A play (1960) based on the book '' The Devils of Loudun'' by
Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...
* ''The Art of the Dramatist'' (1970) He also wrote un unpublished novel, ''Not a Foot of Land'', many film scripts, short stories for radio and the wartime diaries, as well as an account of his meeting and courtship of Jackie. He was drama critic for the '' London Magazine'' and a very active member of the
Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...
in encouraging new writing for the theatre. ''A Penny for a Song'' was adapted into a two-act opera by Richard Rodney Bennett, premiered at Sadler's Wells in 1967. ''The Devils'' formed the basis of the three-act opera '' Die Teufel von Loudun'' by
Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...
, to his own libretto adapted from Whiting's theatrical version of the novel. It was premiered by Hamburg State Opera on 20 June 1969, and widely performed throughout Europe, and in North America. ''Marching Song'' was adapted into a three-act opera by Benjamin Frankel, with a libretto by Hans Keller. Finished by the composer in short score, it was orchestrated after his death by Buxton Orr and broadcast on 3 October 1983 by
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
.


Personal life

John Whiting died from
testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...
on 16 June 1963 in London at the age of 45. His obituary notice in ''The Times'' noted that, ''"As a dramatist John Whiting was in reach of the first rank, even if in his completed works he never quite achieved it. He was an incisive critic (for some time he wrote as drama critic of The London Magazine) and his fine critical intelligence prevented him from ever, after Saint's Day, going too far, but in artistic creations those who never go too far perhaps never go quite far enough. Nevertheless in Marching Song in particular he wrote a play which seems likely to last, and at the time of his death he appeared to be at the beginning of a fruitful new phase in his career. The British theatre, even in its present flowering, can ill afford to lose the plays he might have written had he lived long enough to achieve his full potential stature."'' In 1965, the John Whiting Award was established to commemorate the writer's contribution to post-war British theatre. In 2015, the wartime diaries, as well as personal letters, handwritten notes, manuscripts etc. were donated by the family to the V&A.


References


External links

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John Whiting
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Hindawi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiting, John 1917 births 1963 deaths Military personnel from Salisbury People from Salisbury Deaths from cancer in England People educated at Taunton School 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English male writers Deaths from testicular cancer in the United Kingdom British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery soldiers