Mark Shenton
Mark Shenton | |
|---|---|
 Mark Shenton, 22 April 2010 | |
| Born | Mark Charles Warren Shenton 12 September 1962 Johannesburg,South Africa |
| Occupation | Critic |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | theatrecriticism |
| Website | |
| shentonstage | |
Mark Shenton(born 12 September 1962 inJohannesburg,South Africa) is a London-basedBritishartsjournalistand theatrecritic.Between April 2002 and December 2013 he was chief Theatre Critic for theSunday Express.He formerly wrote a daily blog forThe Stage,where he was an associate editor, as well as reviews and features until March 2019.
Education
[edit]Up to the age of 16, he was educated at St John's College, Johannesburg. He took O and A levels at Albany College, London then in 1982 took up studies atCorpus Christi College,Cambridgewhere he read law, graduating in 1985 and gaining hisMA (Cantab)in 1987.
Career
[edit]His first job in London came in 1986 at Dewynters plc where he edited and co-ordinated the publication of theatre programmes and souvenir brochures forWest EndandBroadwayshows. He became editor for Arts and Entertainment at thePress Associationin October 1990, and subsequently managing editor for Arts and Lifestyle, finance data and television listings, before becoming a freelance arts journalist in April 2002, specialising in theatre.
Shenton is the London correspondent forPlaybillis associate editor of Theatrevoice[1]and has written theatre blogs forThe Guardianonline, Broadway Direct, as well as contributing monthly features to West End theatre programmes.
Until December 2020 he was President ofThe Critics' Circle,[2]having previously chaired the Circle's Drama section.[3]In 2015, he was appointed joint lead theatre critic, with Natasha Tripney, ofThe Stage,a role which he left in 2018, when he became the paper's New York critic.[4]
He also wrote a three-times weekly blog and reviews for LondonTheatre.co.uk until late 2020.[5]
Departure from theSunday Express
[edit]On 5 December 2013, Shenton announced via a column inThe Stagethat he had been asked to leave the staff of theSunday Express.[6]as a result of some naked pictures of himself having been posted on a paywalled gay website without his consent. Suspecting the photographs to have been made publicly available by a former boyfriend, he acknowledged the content of the pictures as being "private, personal (but entirely legal)"; the pictures were taken years earlier in San Francisco.[6][7]EditorMartin Townsendtold him in late November that “serious allegation had been made" against him and, with the HR manager at a subsequent meeting, said the photographs had the potential to bring theExpressinto disrepute.[8]Shenton described the decision to let him go as having "a certain irony" because the paper's ownerRichard Desmondwas a publisher of pornographic magazines during the period when the pictures were taken.[6][8]
In a statement read out to an employment tribunal in August 2014, Shenton said his copy was sometimes dictated or changed without his consent, and fulfilling regular requests for free tickets potentially put at risk his professional relationship with theatre production's PRs. TheSunday Expressdisputed Shenton's account.[8]In mid-October 2014, Shenton lost his claim for unfair dismissal, as he was a freelance paid a retainer, and thus "was not an employee within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act" meaning the tribunal had "no jurisdiction to hear the claim for unfair dismissal". The tribunal also ruled that Express Newspapers had not discriminated against him based on his sexual orientation and that Northern & Shell's "interests in the pornography industry" were irrelevant to the case.[9][10]However, the company had "conducted an unfair process in terminating that contract, in that they withheld information from [Shenton] and they also gave inconsistent accounts of the reason for termination".[11]
Publications
[edit]Publications include:
- Harden's Theatregoers Handbook,co-authored with Roger Foss, Harden's Ltd (2004)ISBN1-873721-65-X,ISBN978-1-873721-65-0
References
[edit]- ^Theatrevoice home pageArchived2008-05-09 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Stepping aside as President of the Critics' Circle".Shenton Stage.18 December 2020.Retrieved3 January2021.
- ^Critics' Circle website
- ^"Tim Bano becomes joint lead critic at The Stage".Archived fromthe originalon 2 March 2018.
- ^"January 2: a New Year's resolution, the botched return of theatre between lockdowns and what's happening in Australia | Shenton Stage".2 January 2021.
- ^abcShenton, Mark (5 December 2013)."Another critical scalp (and this time it's mine!)".The Stage.Retrieved8 June2017.
- ^Greenslade, Roy (5 December 2013)."Sunday Expresstheatre critic fired over gay website pictures ".The Guardian.Retrieved8 June2017.
- ^abcTurvill, William (22 September 2014)."Sacked Sunday Express critic tells of being told to change star ratings and get free theatre tickets for Desmond".Press Gazette.Retrieved8 June2017.
- ^Sherwin, Adam (17 October 2014)."Theatre critic Mark Shenton loses sex discrimination case against Desmond's Express".The Independent.Retrieved8 June2017.
- ^Quinn, Michael (20 October 2014)."Theatre critic Mark Shenton loses unfair dismissal case".The Stage.Retrieved8 June2017.
- ^Turvill, William (20 October 2014)."Critic losesSunday Expressemployment tribunal despite 'unfair process' after judge finds he was freelance ".Press Gazette.Retrieved8 June2017.
