Nicholas de Jongh

Last updated

Nicholas de Jongh
Nicholas de Jongh and Fiona Mountford.JPG
Nicholas de Jongh (left) with Fiona Mountford in 2010
OccupationWriter
NationalityBritish
Alma mater University College, London
GenreCriticism

Nicholas de Jongh is a British writer, theatre critic and playwright. He served as the senior drama critic of the Evening Standard from 1991 to 2009. Prior to that, he had worked for The Guardian for almost 20 years. [1]

In 2008, de Jongh successfully made the transition from critic to playwright when his play Plague Over England was staged at the Finborough Theatre 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. [2] 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. [3]

He has also written two books: Not in Front of the Audience (1992), [4] a study of the depiction of homosexuality in English drama, and Politics, Pruderies and Perversions (2000), a history of British theatrical censorship. [5]

Education

De Jongh was a student at University College, London. While a student there, he was part of the team that made the semi-finals in the 1966–7 series of University Challenge . [6]

Related Research Articles

Rolf Hochhuth German writer

Rolf Hochhuth was a German author and playwright, best known for his 1963 drama The Deputy, which insinuates Pope Pius XII's indifference to Hitler's extermination of the Jews, and he remained a controversial figure both for his plays and other public comments and for his 2005 defense of British Holocaust denier David Irving.

Peter Shaffer English playwright and screenwriter

Sir Peter Levin Shaffer was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He wrote numerous award-winning plays, of which several were adapted into films.

Sybil Thorndike British actress

Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson was an English actress who toured internationally in Shakespearean productions, often appearing with her husband Lewis Casson. Bernard Shaw wrote Saint Joan specially for her, and she starred in it with great success. She was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1931, and Companion of Honour in 1970.

<i>Another Country</i> (play) Play written by Julian Mitchell

Another Country is a play written by English playwright Julian Mitchell. It premiered on 5 November 1981 at the Greenwich Theatre, London.

Finborough Theatre

The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world premieres of new plays primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Ireland, and Scotland including work in the Scots language, alongside rarely seen rediscovered 19th and 20th century plays. The venue also presents new and rediscovered music theatre.

Anthony Neilson is a Scottish playwright and director. He is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. Much of his work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence.

Laura Wade is an English playwright.

The Theatre Book Prize was established to celebrate the Jubilee of the Society for Theatre Research, and to encourage writing and publication of books on theatre history and practice—both those that present the theatre of the past and those that record contemporary theatre for the future. It was first awarded in 1998 for the best new theatre title published in English during 1997. It is now presented annually for a book on British or British related theatre that an independent panel of judges considers the best published in the preceding year. All new works of original research first published in English are eligible, except for play texts and studies of drama as literature. There are three judges, who are different each year. They are drawn from the ranks of people working in theatre: performers, directors, theatre critics, senior academics concerned with theatre, and theatre archivists.

John Stephen Gerrard Jeffreys was a British playwright and playwriting teacher. He wrote original plays, films and play adaptations and also worked as translator. Jeffreys is best known for his play The Libertine about the Earl of Rochester, which was performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago with John Malkovich as Rochester, and later adapted into a film starring Malkovich and Johnny Depp.

Irving Wardle English writer and theatre critic

John Irving Wardle is an English writer and theatre critic.

<i>Plague Over England</i>

Plague Over England is a play written by Nicholas de Jongh, based on a real-life incident when actor John Gielgud was arrested for lewd behavior in 1953; it provides an insight into the changes in the lives of gay people over the last fifty years. It received universally positive reviews when it received its world premiere at the Finborough Theatre in 2008, and subsequently transferred to the West End with an updated cast for a limited run.

John Warnaby is a British actor who has appeared extensively in film and television.

Chris New is an English film and stage actor best known for his starring role in the 2011 film Weekend. New made his screen writing and directorial debut in 2013 with the short film Ticking. He co-wrote the 2014 independent film Chicken, and co-wrote and directed the 2014 independent film A Smallholding.

Arthur Darvill British actor

Thomas Arthur Darvill is an English actor. He is known for portraying Rory Williams, a companion of the Eleventh Doctor in the television series Doctor Who (2010–2012), as well as Rip Hunter in Legends of Tomorrow and Rev. Paul Coates in Broadchurch (2013–2017). From 2013 to 2014, he appeared in the lead role in the theatre musical Once in the West End and on Broadway.

Ryan Craig is a British playwright, whose plays usually probe both social norms and ethical issues. He is also a writer for screen, television and radio.

Vasily Sigarev Russian film director, screenwriter, and playwright

Vassily Vladimirovich Sigarev is a Russian playwright, screenwriter and film director. His plays Plasticine, Black Milk and Ladybird were first produced in the West by the Royal Court Theatre, in 2002, 2003 and 2004, respectively. In 2002, Sigarev was named the winner of the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright given out by the Evening Standard for Plasticine.

Anders Lustgarten is a British playwright, who resides in London.

Peter Caulfield is an English actor.

Kate O'Flynn is a British actress who has appeared on stage at the National Theatre in productions of Port and A Taste of Honey and in films including Up There and Mr. Turner.

David Ireland is a Northern Irish-born playwright and actor, known for his award-winning plays Cyprus Avenue and Ulster American.

References

  1. Nathan, John (27 August 2009). "Interview: Nicholas de Jongh". The Jewish Chronicle . Archived from the original on 30 September 2009.
  2. "Plague Over England". Curtain Up. 25 February 2009.
  3. Plunkett, John (30 March 2009). "Theatre critic Nicholas de Jongh to leave London Evening Standard". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  4. "Not in front of the audience : the making of gay theatre". WorldCat . Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  5. "Politics, prudery & perversions : the censoring of the English stage, 1901-1968". WorldCat . Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  6. "University Challenge, 1966-7".