Kenneth Tynan

English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

Kenneth Peacock Tynanwas an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at The Observer, he praised John Osborne’s Look Back in Angerand encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent.

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About the Kenneth Tynan

Kenneth Peacock Tynanwas an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at The Observer, he praised John Osborne’s Look Back in Angerand encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent.

In 1963 Tynan was appointed the new National Theatre Company’s literary manager.

An opponent of theatre censorship, he was one of the earliest people to say “fuck” on British television, during a live 1965 broadcast, despite a common misconception that he was the first.

Later in life he settled in California, where he resumed his writing career.

10 Quotes by Kenneth Tynan

  1. 1.

    The sheer complexity of writing a play always had dazzled me. In an effort to understand it, I became a critic.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  2. 2.

    Pearl is a disease of oysters. Levant is a disease of Hollywood.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  3. 3.

    A neurosis is a secret that you don’t know you are keeping.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  4. 4.

    What, when drunk, one sees in other women, one sees in Garbo sober.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  5. 5.

    Not content to have the audience in the palm of his hand, he goes one further and clinches his fist.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  6. 6.

    A novel is a static thing that one moves through; a play is a dynamic thing that moves past one.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  7. 7.

    A critic is a man who knows the way but can’t drive the car.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  8. 8.

    A city whose living immediacy is so urgent that when I am in it I lose all sense of the past.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  9. 9.

    A good drama critic is one who perceives what is happening in the theatre of his time. A great drama critic also perceives what is not happening.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)

  10. 10.

    Art is a private thing, the artist makes it for himself; a comprehensible work is the product of a journalist. We need works that are strong, straight, precise, and forever beyond understanding.

    Kenneth Tynan

    English theatre critic and writer (1927-1980)