Clive Davis has been appointed chief theatre critic of The Times, taking over the role from Ann Treneman who stepped down in September last year.

Davis will be working with Dominic Maxwell, who has been appointed to the new position of deputy theatre critic and theatre commissioning editor.

Alex O’Connell, arts editor of The Times, says: “Clive is a born critic with deep knowledge of the arts, vast writing experience and excellent judgement. I’m delighted he has been appointed to one of the most exciting and challenging jobs here.”

Clive Davis says: “I’m looking forward to covering theatre at a time when our politics and culture are in a state of flux - we seem to be locked in the modern equivalent of a religious war at the moment. Going to the theatre has become a ridiculously expensive pastime, especially in the West End, so I hope to help readers avoid productions which are long on hype and short on quality.”

Davis has more than thirty years of journalism experience, and was a regular freelance writer for The Times and The Sunday Times covering music, radio, theatre, comedy, and contributing op-ed columns. His other work has appeared in The Independent, Daily Express, New Statesman and Weekly Standard.

He has been a media fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and has made Radio 4 documentaries about the novelist Richard Wright and the journalist and historian William L Shirer. He started his career as a reporter and editor at West Indian World newspaper in Haringey, before joining the BBC as a news trainee.