Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore

Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. accidentally triggered his medical alert pendant at 5:22am. By 7:00am he was dead.

In 1963, flamboyant, eccentric English theatre critic Kenneth Tynan is made 'literary manager' of London's National Theatre. His views on censorship (can't stand it) and sexuality (as much of it onstage as possible) set him on a collision course with the NT's Chair, Sir Oliver Lyttelton. Demoted after becoming the first person to drop the F-bomb on British TV, Tynan struggles to stage his 'erotic entertainment' "Oh Calcutta" in the face of opposition from friends, family and colleagues, and in spite of his own deteriorating health.