David Lister

A founder member of The Independent David Lister joined the paper in 1986 as Assistant Home Editor. He became the paper's arts correspondent in 1988 and is now Arts Editor and writes a column each Saturday. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

David Lister: Great writers don't need a helping hand

There's an unusual story about the new Alan Bennett play, The Habit of Art, which opens at the National Theatre next Tuesday. I gather that the National's artistic director, Nicholas Hytner, found the manuscript just pushed through his front door at home. Bennett had worked on it alone without telling anyone and, shy man that he is, just delivered it unannounced and unexpected – and departed without ringing the bell.

Recently by David Lister

David Lister: The pulsating battle to rule the arts

Saturday, 7 November 2009

Who should be the next chairman of the London Regional Arts Council? There's a question that invites the reader to turn the page. But this seemingly arcane question has become intriguing, controversial even.

David Lister: You need a PhD for a night at the opera

Saturday, 31 October 2009

They're expensive and often of little use, yet they are the one part of the cultural experience that rarely provokes comment. Why can't the programmes on sale at concerts, theatres and operas be better?

David Lister: The perils of being friends with the boss

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

The editor on my first newspaper had a habit of standing behind you as you were writing. Eventually, unnerved by his presence, you would stop writing. "What are you doing?" he would ask, amazed. "I'm thinking," the hapless reporter would answer. "Don't think! Write!" he would bark, emphasising the point with a jab of his finger between the shoulder blades.

David Lister: Annie get your (politically correct) gun

Saturday, 24 October 2009

Those who like musicals will know that Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun has one of the great scores. Watching the new production of the show at the Young Vic in London with Jane Horrocks, it was good to be reminded of showstoppers such as "Anything You Can Do" and "There's No Business Like Show Business".

David Lister: It's not time to junk the breeches and bonnets

Thursday, 22 October 2009

The death of the costume drama on the BBC has been declared before. By the BBC. In the Eighties the Corporation decided that the public no longer had an appetite for it, and barely made any, denying a generation adaptations of the classics. Then in the Nineties it made the excellent Colin Firth/ Jennifer Ehle version of Pride and Prejudice to critical and public acclaim, and the senior BBC executive Michael Jackson went on the Today programme to apologise for keeping costume dramas off the air.

David Lister: Hirst's £250k (gift)

Saturday, 17 October 2009

There's no need for me to comment on the quality of Damien Hirst's new paintings at London's Wallace Collection. The art critics have delivered their verdict (see Performance Notes below) and it's a damning one. Anyway, I'm rather more interested in – and worried by – what went on behind the scenes to get this particular show on the road. What worries me is the £250,000 that Hirst gave from his own large pockets to the Wallace Collection.

David Lister: I seek to understand David Hare

Saturday, 10 October 2009

There's something that disturbs me about the subtitle David Hare has given to his new play The Power of Yes. It is "A dramatist seeks to understand the financial crisis."

David Lister: Time to ditch these meaningless awards

Saturday, 3 October 2009

It's an exciting time for prizes in the arts. The Mobos took place this week. Later this autumn we will hear who are the judges are for next year's Orange Prize for Fiction. The cultural world has thrown up two of the more radical and innovative awards. And I can't wait to see them both abolished.

David Lister: BBC4 should watch its back

Saturday, 26 September 2009

I've never known a time when the BBC had so few friends in the main political parties. Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary and Jeremy Hunt, his Conservative shadow, seem to be vying with each other to be the more antagonistic to the corporation.

David Lister: A refreshing week for our new students

Friday, 25 September 2009

You can look on it in a number of ways. It might be the opportunity to meet the love of your life. It might be the chance to find new vocations, interests and sports. It might be the time to party and drink till you drop. Or it might just be one of the crueller inhumanities that mature human beings can inflict on the young.

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