- Irving Wardle
John Irving Wardle (born 20 July 1929 in
Bolton , England) is a writer and theatre critic.His father, John Wardle, was drama critic on the "
Bolton Evening News ", and a regular performer at the Bolton Little Theatre. He studied English atWadham College, Oxford ; and Music at theRoyal College of Music , London.He worked as a sub-editor on "
The Times Literary Supplement ", 1956-; as deputy theatre critic (toKenneth Tynan ) on "The Observer ", 1959-63; drama critic for "The Times " 1963-89; editor "Gambit" 1973-75; theatre critic for "The Independent on Sunday" 1989-95(?).He has published two books, a biography "The Theatres of
George Devine " (Jonathan Cape, 1978) and "Theatre Criticism" (Routledge, 1992)His first play, "The Houseboy" was performed at
The Open Space Theatre 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 byCharles Marowitz and the cast includedTimothy 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,Richard Pasco and Earl Rhodes.A second play "Faust at Elsinore", imagines Faust as
Hamlet ’s tutor, and is written using quotes from Shakespeare’s plays as the text. It was performed as a reading atClwyd Theatr Cymru in 1991.More recently he has written articles for magazines such as "Prospect" and "
The Oldie ".Irving Wardle married Joan Notkin in 1958; Fay Crowder in 1963, they had two sons, Benjamin and Thomas; and finally Elizabeth Grist in 1975, and had a son and daughter, Alexander and Judith, with her. He lives in Barnet, North London.
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