Occupation Writer Role Critic Name Nicholas Jongh | Genre Criticism Nationality British Plays Plague Over England | |
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Books Not in front of the audience, Politics, Prudery & Perversions: The Censoring of the English Stage, 1901-1968 | ||
Nicholas de jongh plague over england
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 worked for the Guardian newspaper for almost 20 years.
De Jongh grew up in Hampstead in a secular Jewish family. His father was a GP, while his mother, a sister of Dora Gaitskell, was a trained actress.
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. Plague Over England 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, de Jongh then resigned from his post at the Evening Standard in order 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.