Jack Tinker (15 February 1938 – 28 October 1996) was an English

theatre critic Theatre criticism is a genre of arts criticism, and the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera. Theatre criticism is distinct from drama criticism, as the latter is a division of literary criticism whereas t ...

. Tinker made his reputation on the '' Brighton Evening Argus'', before becoming theatre critic for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' in 1972 where he worked for twenty-four years. He became the president of the Critics' Circle and the "most influential and most popular" of the London theatre critics until his death of a heart attack, aged fifty-eight. Lights in the West End were dimmed in his honour – a gesture usually reserved for deceased actors. His obituary in ''The Independent'' reported that "Jack Tinker saw himself as in and of the theatre, a critic from inside the boundary who could be as savage as any of the outsiders but who always knew precisely what he was being savage about." His appearance was distinctive, too: "Flamboyant in manner and dress and often sporting a ponytail, Jack was an easily recognisable theatrical character. His wealth of anecdotes and engaging charm not only found him as at home at a restaurant table of actors and producers in a West End restaurant but also doing a regular turn entertaining passengers on the ''QE2'' when he took a break from reviewing."Obituary in ''The Independent''.
/ref> Among Tinker's notable reviews was his response to Sarah Kane's ''

Blasted ''Blasted'' is the first play by the British author Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1995 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London. Synopsis The play is set in an expensive hotel room in Leeds. Ian, a foul-mouthed middle-aged tabloid ...

'', in which he reported being "disgusted ..by a play which appears to know no bounds of decency yet has no message to convey by way of excuse" and which he found "utterly without artistic merit".Iain Fisher's online collection of documents about Sarah Kane.
/ref>

References

British theatre critics 1938 births 1996 deaths Daily Mail journalists Presidents of the Critics' Circle {{UK-journalist-stub