The Art of the Dramatist (1970) He also wrote un unpublished novel, Not a Foot of Land, many film scripts, short stories for radio and the wartime diaries, as well as an account of his meeting and courtship of Jackie. He was drama critic for the London Magazine and a very active member of the Arts Council in encouraging new writing for the theatre. A Penny for a Song was adapted into a two-act opera by Richard Rodney Bennett, premiered at Sadler's Wells in 1967. The Devils formed the basis of the three-act opera Die Teufel von Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki, to his own libretto adapted from Whiting's theatrical version of the novel. It was premiered by Hamburg State Opera on 20 June 1969, and widely performed throughout Europe, and in North America. Marching Song was adapted into a three-act opera by Benjamin Frankel, with a libretto by Hans Keller. Finished by the composer in short score, it was orchestrated after his death by Buxton Orr and broadcast on 3 October 1983 by BBC Radio 3. Personal life John Whiting died from testicular cancer on 16 June 1963 in London at the age of 45. His obituary notice in The Times noted that, "As a dramatist John Whiting was in reach of the first rank, even if in his completed works he never quite achieved it. He was an incisive critic (for some time he wrote as drama critic of The London Magazine and his fine critical intelligence prevented him from ever, after Saint's Day, going too far, but in artistic creations those who never go too far perhaps never go quite far enough. Nevertheless in Marching Song in particular he wrote a play which seems likely to last, and at the time of his death he appeared to be at the beginning of a fruitful new phase in his career. The British theatre, even in its present flowering, can ill afford to lose the plays he might have written had he lived long enough to achieve his full potential stature." In 1965, the John Whiting Award was established to commemorate the writer's contribution to post-war British theatre. In 2015, the wartime diaries, as well as personal letters, handwritten notes, manuscripts etc. were donated by the family to the V&A. References External links 1917 births 1963 deaths Military personnel from Wiltshire People from Salisbury Deaths from cancer in England People