Embedded Files
Volume 4 | Issue 4 - Forgotten People
Article by Eddie Watson. Edited and Researched by Rob Russell.
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (1927-1980) has one of the most suitable middle names in British history. He was an immensely influential theatre critic, journalist, writer, and most of all, flamboyant show off. In an era that has come to be defined by sexual liberation and increasing frankness in the media, it would be hard to find another individual that did more to try and break down arbitrary traditional bourgeois taboos in modern Britain – except Russell Brand perhaps. While much is made of the ‘fab four’ when people think of the 1960s, Kenneth Tynan is often overlooked in spite of his influence as a key cultural elite.
Behind his playful outlook towards sex were serious concerns about censorship. He regularly wrote reviews and articles for David Astor’s Observer, most notably about John Osborne’s 1956 play Look Back in Anger as well as a review of the landmark case of the Lady Chatterley’s Lover trial in 1960. Interested in Osborne’s realism and anger at respectability and authority, he stated that ‘I doubt that I could love anyone who did not wish to see it’ in a glowing review, without which the play may not have experienced the success it achieved. In his review of the Chatterley trial, he summarised the struggle for literary censorship as ‘the real battle’ between ‘contact and separation; between freedom and control; between love and death’. In the same article he directly quoted parts of the trial, including the swear words that had been read aloud during proceedings, subsequently becoming one of the first people to notably swear in the national press.
This was not his only first however. In November 1965 he outraged cultural conservatives by swearing live on the BBC, although according to some his stammer made it the most elongated swear word on television also. Even though the incident happened at 11:19 on a Saturday night, Tynan’s four letter word made the front pages, four motions were tabled in the House of Commons, moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse wrote to the Queen, members of the public sought legal action, and Tynan was personally threatened. If Tynan was aiming to shock people he succeeded, but if he was aiming to prove that no one was actually offended by swear words any more, he could not have been more wrong. Either way, at a time when Mary Whitehouse’s ‘Clean-up TV’ campaign was in full swing, Kenneth Tynan was gleefully countering their traditional Christian values with his own radical beliefs. When Whitehouse wrote to the Queen and home secretary after the incident on the BBC, she suggested he should have his ‘bottom spanked’, which considering his demands for flagellation in his first marriage, would have been no punishment at all.
He demonstrated this liberal attitude towards sex from a young age, taking part in a school debate against the motion that ‘This House Thinks the Present Generation Has Lost the Ability to Entertain Itself’ when he was fourteen, outlining the pleasures of masturbation as his key argument. On numerous occasions he affirmed his belief that sexual acts should be performed live on the theatre stage, although audience sensitivity and performance related issues (as I’m sure you can imagine) were probably why this wasn’t fulfilled. Even so, he was imperative in abolishing the Lord Chamberlain’s censoring powers of plays in 1968 as literary director of the National Theatre.
While he may not have been able to have actors perform sexual intercourse live on stage, he managed to produce a play purely for the purpose of titillation in 1970 with Oh! Calcutta!, which had many believing that ‘permissiveness’ had gone too far. In some ways Oh! Calcutta! was Tynan’s ‘masterpiece’. It was a theatrical revue which consisted of bizarre sketches purely surrounding topics related to sex, in which the cast were nude the entire time and included contributions from John Lennon and Nobel prize winner Samuel Beckett. The title was a pun, deriving from ‘O quel cul t’as!’, French for “What an arse you have!”. If that sounds like it would have niche appeal, it ran in London for over 3,900 performances and the revival on Broadway was the longest-running revue show in Broadway history at the time, and is now the second longest-running revival after Chicago – in other words, it was massively successful, and Tynan would not have that kind of success again as a writer. If you are curious, then try and find it on YouTube, although I wouldn’t recommend watching it in a public place.
While myths surrounding the ‘sexual revolution’ persist, it is odd that somebody like Kenneth Tynan is not remembered as widely as Mary Whitehouse for instance. In the present day it would be difficult to find someone who had heard of Kenneth Tynan, let alone what he did. The only ones who have are a handful of people who were alive at the time, people who have studied the 1960s in depth who will have most likely come across him at some stage, or the odd University Challenge contestant. Regardless of his importance, he was a delightfully extravagant character who outraged as much as he entertained. Although he should not be forgotten, I doubt there will be a ‘King’s Speech’ style film about him overcoming his stammer to swear live on the BBC anytime soon.
As of last year Tynan’s Oh! Calcutta! Was the seventh longest running show in Broadway history.
The show also ran for an impressive amount of time in London, with over 3,900 live performances.
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