Of all the brilliant people the British theatre has produced in the last 50 years, none was more brilliant or unique than Kenneth Tynan.
Tynan was not a playwright. He was not an actor, director or producer. He was a critic who became as important to the theatre as the people he reviewed. And the stars of his time realized that, and welcomed him as a colleague.
Tynan was also a compulsive journal keeper and gossip: And what gossip. Kenneth Tynan knew all the stars — drank with them, wrote about them. Laurence Oliver: knew him. Marlene Dietrich: knew her. Tennessee Williams, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, knew them all and wrote about them all. His journals are an essential document of the artistic life of his times.
Critic, Chronicler and very funny fellow — the life and legacy of Kenneth Tynan is on The Connection.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
John Lahr, theater critic for The New Yorker.