Nicholas de Jongh is a British writer, theatre critic and playwright. He served as the senior drama critic of the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' from 1991 to 2009. Prior to that, he had worked for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' for almost 20 years. In 2008, de Jongh successfully made the transition from critic to playwright when his play '' Plague Over England'' was staged at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world pr ...

in Earl's Court. Set in 1950s England, the play takes a look back at the arrest of the actor John Gielgud for homosexual soliciting at the height of his fame. The play was an instant hit and sold out for its run at the Finborough. In 2009, the play transferred to the West End. Following the success of his first play, he resigned from his post at the ''Evening Standard'' to pursue a full-time writing career. He has also written two books: ''Not in Front of the Audience'' (1992), a study of the depiction of homosexuality in English drama, and ''Politics, Pruderies and Perversions'' (2000), a history of British theatrical censorship.

Education

De Jongh was a student at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. While a student there, he was part of the team that made the semi-finals in the 1966–7 series of ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

''.

References

Living people British dramatists and playwrights British theatre critics British male dramatists and playwrights English people of Jewish descent Contestants on University Challenge 1944 births {{UK-playwright-stub