Benedict Nightingale
Encyclopedia
Benedict Nightingale is a British journalist
and a regular theatre
critic for The Times
newspaper. He was born in 1939 and educated at Charterhouse
and Magdalene College
, Cambridge. His first published theatre review was for the Tunbridge Wells Advertiser in 1957, a production of Look Back in Anger by a local amateur group.
He worked for The Guardian
as a reporter and in 1969 was appointed drama critic of the New Statesman
in London, a post which he held until 1986 when he was appointed Professor of English with special reference to Drama at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He married the American novelist Anne Redmon and they have a daughter and two sons.
He spent the whole of the 1983-84 season in New York, writing a series of Sunday theatre columns for The New York Times
. His diary of the period was first published by Times Books
in 1986 as Fifth Row Center: A Critic's Year On and Off Broadway, and published a year later by André Deutsch
in London, ISBN 023398108X. He was appointed chief theatre critic for The Times in London in 1990 in succession to Irving Wardle
.
After 20 years at The Times, on 1 June 2010 Nightingale is to be replaced by The Times journalist Libby Purves
. This, its consequences and Nightingale's career as a critic are discussed in detail by Mark Shenton in his 26 January 2010 theatre blog for The Stage
, see http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/shenton/2010/01/critical-lightning-strikes-at-the-thunde/index.html.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and a regular theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
critic for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper. He was born in 1939 and educated at Charterhouse
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
and Magdalene College
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
, Cambridge. His first published theatre review was for the Tunbridge Wells Advertiser in 1957, a production of Look Back in Anger by a local amateur group.
He worked for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
as a reporter and in 1969 was appointed drama critic of the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
in London, a post which he held until 1986 when he was appointed Professor of English with special reference to Drama at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He married the American novelist Anne Redmon and they have a daughter and two sons.
He spent the whole of the 1983-84 season in New York, writing a series of Sunday theatre columns for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. His diary of the period was first published by Times Books
Times Books
Times Books is a publishing imprint owned by The New York Times Company and licensed to Henry Holt and Company....
in 1986 as Fifth Row Center: A Critic's Year On and Off Broadway, and published a year later by André Deutsch
André Deutsch
André Deutsch was a British publisher.After having learned the business of publishing working for Francis Aldor with whom he was interned in the Isle of Man during the Second World War and who had introduced him to the industry, André Deutsch left Aldor's employment after a few months to continue...
in London, ISBN 023398108X. He was appointed chief theatre critic for The Times in London in 1990 in succession to Irving Wardle
Irving Wardle
John Irving Wardle is an English writer and theatre critic.He was born on 20 July 1929 in Manchester, Lancashire, the son of John Wardle and his wife Nellie . His father was drama critic on the Bolton Evening News, and a regular performer at the Bolton Little Theatre...
.
After 20 years at The Times, on 1 June 2010 Nightingale is to be replaced by The Times journalist Libby Purves
Libby Purves
Libby Purves OBE is a British radio presenter, journalist and author. A diplomat's daughter, she was educated at convent schools in Israel, Bangkok, South Africa and France, and then Beechwood Sacred Heart School in Tunbridge Wells.Purves won a scholarship to St Anne's College, Oxford, where she...
. This, its consequences and Nightingale's career as a critic are discussed in detail by Mark Shenton in his 26 January 2010 theatre blog for The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
, see http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/shenton/2010/01/critical-lightning-strikes-at-the-thunde/index.html.