The Birmingham Repertory Theatre: 1913-1963

J.C.Trewin was a British journalist, drama critic and theatrical historian. His parents were Cornish, but he was born in Plymouth in 1908 and brought up in Cornwall. Educated at Plymouth College, his first job was as a cub reporter on the city's Sunday newspaper, theWestern Independent, in 1926. After six years he left for London and joined theMorning Postas a reporter and drama critic. On the paper's closure in 1937 he moved toThe Observer, doubling as a drama critic and later as literary editor. From the early 1950s he concentrated on the theatre, working for a number of publications includingPunch,theListener,theBirmingham Post,theIllustrated London NewsandThe Lady. He wrote some forty books of theatre history and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1981. He died in 1990. He is memorialised by the British Critics' Circle in an award that bears his name (and that of his wife, Wendy) for the best Shakespearean performance of the year.