Harold Hobson: Difference between revisions

Sir Harold Hobson (1904-1992) was an influential English drama critic and author.

He was born in Thorpe Hesley, South Yorkshire, England and studied at Oxford. He was an assistant literary editor before he became drama critic for the Sunday Times (1947-76). He was the only drama critic to recognise Harold Pinter's talent as a dramatist and wrote of The Birthday Party, "Pinter … possesses the most original, disturbing and arresting talent in theatrical London" [1]. During his career, he was to champion many other new playwrights, especially John Osborne, Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard. He was also drama critic of the Christian Science Monitor (1931-74), wrote for Drama and The Listener and was a regular member of the radio programme The Critics. In the 1960s, he was invited by Peter Hall to join the board of the National Theatre.

Sir Harold received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.

He wrote a number of books relating to British and French theatre, including his autobiography entitled Indirect Journey (1978) and a personal history based on his work as a drama critic entitled Theatre in Britain (1984).