Michael Billington (critic)
Michael Billington | |
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Born | Michael Keith Billington 16 November 1939 Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England |
Occupation |
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Education | Warwick School |
Alma mater | St Catherine's College, Oxford (BA) |
Period | 1961–present |
Genre |
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Notable works |
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Notable awards | Theatre Book Prize |
Spouse |
Jeanine Bradlaugh (m. 1978) |
Children | 1 |
Michael Keith Billington
Early life and education
Billington was born on 16 November 1939, in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, and attended Warwick School, an independent boys' school in Warwick.[6][7][8] He attended St Catherine's College, Oxford, from 1958 to 1961, where he studied English and was appointed theatre critic of Cherwell.[9] He graduated with a BA degree.[8][10]
As a member of Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), in 1959, Billington played the Priest in The Birds, by Aristophanes, his only appearance as an actor,[11][12] and, in 1960, he directed a production of Eugène Ionesco's The Bald Prima Donna, a performance of which was attended by Harold Hobson, the drama critic for The Sunday Times.[10] Although it won "an Oxford drama competition" and was an entry in that year's National Student Drama Festival (NSDF 1960), which Hobson had co-founded in 1956, Billington's directorial debut was not well received at the Festival, yet Billington credits Hobson with having "changed my life".[10] After the Festival, he decided to forgo pursuing a career as a theatre practitioner to "follow" Hobson's "footsteps" and become a critic of theatre too; five years later, they would become colleagues at The Times.[10]
Career
After leaving Oxford in 1961, Billington began working as an arts critic in Liverpool for the
Billington's broadcasting career had begun by 1965.
Billington blogs for
Academic work and conferences
Billington has taught in the University of Pennsylvania's Penn-in-London program since at least as early as 1997, and he teaches courses in theatre at King's College London, where he has been a visiting professor since 2002.[4][16][17]
After attending the December 2005 Nobel Banquet, in Stockholm, on the occasion of Harold Pinter's being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Billington attended the international symposium "Pinter: Passion, Poetry, Politics", which he had organised, in part celebrating Pinter's being awarded the Europe Theatre Prize, in Turin, Italy, in March 2006.
In April 2007, Billington presented an invited paper on "Is British Theatre As Good As It Claims?" to the Elizabethan Club, at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, prior to moderating a panel discussion at the conference Artist and Citizen: 50 Years of Performing Pinter", at Leeds University, where he attended and later reviewed the production Being Harold Pinter, by the Belarus Free Theatre.[18][19]
Biographical and critical studies
Billington is the author of several biographical and critical studies of subjects relating to British theatre and the arts, including books about Peggy Ashcroft (1907–1991), Tom Stoppard (born 1937), and Alan Ayckbourn (born 1939). He also wrote the official authorised biography of 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature prizewinner Harold Pinter (1930–2008), which first appeared in 1996.
In March 2007
Following Pinter's death on 24 December 2008,
Theatre work
As a director his work also includes The Will by
Personal life
Billington lives in
In popular culture
In fiction, Billington's name was introduced in Death of a Hollow Man by Caroline Graham, later adapted for the Midsomer Murders television mystery series, in which DCI Tom Barnaby coaxes deluded local director, and double murderer, Harold Winstanly into accompanying him to the police station by suggesting Michael Billington and journalists from various respectable publications would be waiting to discuss his work.[29]
Honours
Billington was made an honorary fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford, in 2005[8] and was awarded an honorary doctorate by The University of Warwick in July 2009.[30]
He was appointed
Notes and references
- ^ "Featured Alumni: Michael Billington: Author and Arts Critic, St Catherine's College". University of Oxford. alumni.ox.ac.uk. 29 October 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ a b Wiegand, Chris (5 November 2019). "Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington to step down". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- ^ a b c Billington, Michael (3 October 2007). "Profile". Theatre & Performing Arts: The Blog. London: blogs.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ ISBN 1-85743-179-0.
- ^ a b "Events: Michael Billington: 'State of the Nation'". Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ Times Literary Supplement. London: timesonline.co.uk, Arts and Entertainment. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
A new history of British theatre explores the relationship between theatre and politics.
[Book rev.] - ^ a b c d e "Michael Billington". Contemporary Writers in the UK. British Council (Searchable database, Copyright, 2007). Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Michael Billington". Who's Who. A & C Black. December 2010.
- ^ Fisher, Mark (8 December 2019). "'With age, I get more tolerant of failure': Interview with Michael Billington". critical-stages.org. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d Haydon, Andrew (1 August 2007). "Critical Thinking". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
'In my second year at Oxford, I couldn't decide what career to pursue: I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be a director or a critic.' By the end of the festival Billington had decided to follow in Hobson's footsteps; in 1965 he started working at the Times as a theatre, film and television reviewer. In 1971 he became drama critic for the Guardian, where he has remained ever since. Of Hobson, Billington says simply, 'he changed my life'.
- guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ Senior, Ian (6 August 2004). "Strictly for The Birds: Michael Billington and Others". R Cubed News: A Review of Rotten Reviewers. No. 95. Archived from the original on 30 May 2005. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- Lincoln Theatre Royalin the early 1960s....
- ^ Billington, Michael (15 April 1984). "'Voyage Round My Father' sails On". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ Billington, Michael (28 October 2015). "Michael Billington on Philip French: A kind man with an encyclopedic memory". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
- ^ "Penn English Program in London". Department of English London Program. english.upenn.edu. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
The centerpiece of the program is the Penn Theatre course (ENGL068). Participants study with the renowned Guardian theater critic, Michael Billington, and visit the theater weekly as part of this course.
- ^ "Theatre Schedule: Spring 2008: With Critic Michael Billington". Department of English London Program. english.upenn.edu. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
Fall 2006
[Schedules of past academic semesters listed in reverse chronological order]. - ^ Billington, Michael (16 April 2007). "The Importance of Being Pinter". Michael Billington Blog. London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ Billington, Michael (15 April 2008). "Belarus Free Theatre Will Not Be Silenced". Michael Billington Blog. London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ "Guardian's Theatre Critic Scoops Book Prize". The Guardian. London. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ "Michael Billington Wins STR Theatre Book Prize with The State of the Nation". The Society for Theatre Research. str.org.uk (official website). 1 April 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ Page, Benedicte (20 September 2007). "Books: Michael Billington: Taking Centre Stage". The Bookseller. thebookseller.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ Billington, Michael (6 November 2007). "The Reviewer Reviewed". Comment Is Free. London: guardian.co.uk (Blog). Retrieved 8 June 2008.
We all love seeing our work praised, but I most relish the well-aimed critical arrows. Honest.
(7 moderated comments, with "comments now closed.") - ^ Wood, Felicity (7 January 2009). "Faber Rushes Out Billington Ebook". thebookseller.com. The Bookseller. Archived from the original (Web) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
[Correction by Peter Scott:] Pinter was born in 1930, not 1939.
- ^ Oddy, Julian. "Marivaux (1688–1763) Adaptations/translations by Modern Playwrights" (Web). The Playwrights' Database. doolee.com. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
- ^ Morley, Sheridan (19 April 1997). "The Critics – Up For Review (Battersea Arts Centre)" (Web). The Spectator. Findarticles.com.
- ^ "Party Time & Celebration". lamda.org.uk. Student Productions at LAMDA's MacOwan Theatre. London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
- ^ "The Big Interview: Michael Billington – Interviews – The Stage". 3 May 2015. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-7553-4216-7.
- ^ Dunn, Peter; Abbott, Tom (2009). "Honorary Degrees for Pensions Campaigner, World Trade Director and Theatre Critic". Warwick News and Events. University of Warwick. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
- ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 9.
Bibliography
- Books by Billington
- The Modern Actor. London: Hamilton, 1973. ISBN 978-0-241-02094-4.
- How Tickled I Am: A Celebration of Ken Dodd. London: Elm Tree Books, 1977. ISBN 978-0-241-89345-6.
- Alan Ayckbourn. London: ISBN 978-0-394-62051-0.
- Stoppard: The Playwright. London: ISBN 978-0-413-45860-5.
- Peggy Ashcroft. London: ISBN 978-0-7195-4436-1.
- Approaches to Twelfth Night (editor). London: ISBN 978-1-85459-007-7.
- One Night Stands: A Critic's View of British Theatre 1971–1991. London: ISBN 978-1-85459-185-2. (Collection of reprinted reviews.)
- The Life and Work of Harold Pinter. London: ISBN 978-0-571-19065-2. (Revised as Harold Pinter in 2007.)
- Stage and Screen Lives (editor). London: ISBN 978-0-19-860407-5.
- Harold Pinter. London: ISBN 978-0-571-17103-3. (Revised & updated [paperback] edition of The Life and Work of Harold Pinter [1997].)
- State of the Nation: British Theatre since 1945. London: ISBN 978-0-571-21034-3.
- Book reviews
- "The Life and Work of Harold Pinter (Magill Book Reviews)". Salem on Literature: Magill Book Reviews. eNotes.com. Web. (Book review of the 1996 edition; later revised & enlarged as Harold Pinter [2007].)
- Biographical profiles
- "Billington, Michael". ISBN 978-0-7136-7527-6 (159th edn). Online site: Who's Who 2008. Accessed 6 June 2008.
- "Featured Alumni: Michael Billington: Author and Arts Critic, St Catherine's College". University of Oxford, alumni.ox.ac.uk. Last updated 29 October 2007. Accessed 8 June 2008.
- "Michael Billington". Contemporary Writers in the UK. British Council. Copyright, 2007. Accessed 6 June 2008. (Searchable database.)
- Sleeman, Elizabeth. "Billington, Michael". International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004. London:ISBN 1-85743-179-0
- Media participation and clips
- "Michael Billington" – On the BBC, including "Results from BBC Audio & Video" (RealMedia audio clips). Accessed 8 June 2008.
- "Michael Billington: Q&A" Archived 7 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Pinter at the BBC. BBC Four. 6 November 2002. Accessed 8 June 2008. ("Harold Pinter's biographer Michael Billington answered your questions about the playwright on Wednesday 6 November 2002.")
External links
- Michael Billington – Archives at The Guardian.
- Michael Billington – Critical Comment – Billington's own blog hosted by and featured in What's On Stage: Special Event Blogs, whatsonstage.com. Accessed 8 June 2008.
- Profile of Michael Billington at Contemporarywriters.com