Tynan, Kenneth mss., 1939-2001
Summary Information
Repository
Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Lilly Library
Indiana University
1200 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405-5500
Phone: 812-855-2452
Fax: 812-855-3143
Email: liblilly@indiana.edu
Creator
Tynan, Kenneth, 1927-1980
TitleTynan, Kenneth mss., 1939-2001
Collection No.
LMC 2744
Extent
29 items
Language
Materials are in English.
Abstract
Consists of manuscript diaries of
director and theater personality Kenneth Tynan (1927-1980).
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Biographical Note
Director and theater critic Kenneth Tynan, born in Birmingham, England,
stuttered as a child but was highly precocious, and was already keeping a diary by
the age of six. A brilliant pupil at Kind Edward's School in Birmingham, Tynan won a
scholarship to Oxford at the end of WWII, where he became an intellectual and social
leader among the undergraduates. Noted for his flamboyant dress and extravagant
style, he wrote and edited Oxford college magazines, and was tutored by C. S. Lewis,
for whom he retained a life-long admiration.
Tynan's active career as a theater critic began in 1952, when he was hired by the
London Evening Standard. Two years later he left
for
The Observer and quickly rose to prominence,
championing the new realism in the theater of "The Angry Young Men" and playwrights
such as Samuel Beckett. In the late Fifties he became known in the United States
through a series of reviews in
The New Yorker. In 1963
he was appointed Literary Manager of the British Royal National Theatre, where he
established a global reputation. Controversy marked Tynan's later career, and his
battles against censorship led to such works as the erotic revue
Oh! Calcutta!, which became one of the most successful
theatre hits of all time. He remained at the National Theatre until 1973. From the
mid-1970s on, he worked on a series of projects exploring sexual themes, including
sadomasochism. Tynan died in Santa Monica, California in 1980 at the age of 53. The
publication of his diaries in 2001 led to renewed controversy due to their frank
discussion of sexuality and his personal life. The editor of the diaries noted in
his introduction that passages were omitted that the publishers thought might lead
to charges of slander.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of manuscript diaries of director and theater personality
Kenneth Tynan. The first series, Diaries 1970-1980, consists of twenty-five
individually bound handwritten diaries chronicling the last ten years of Tynan's
life, 1970-1980. The second series, Earlier Diaries, includes Tynan's unpublished
volumes from the years 1939 (when he was twelve) and 1941 (at the age of fourteen,
during the Second World War) and offers insights into this early period of his life.
The final series, Writings, features a proof typescript of The Diaries of Kenneth
Tynan, a book covering the aforementioned 1970-1980 period, edited by John Lahr, and
published by Bloomsbury in 2001.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Acquired: 2011
Usage RestrictionsPrior arrangements are not necessary before coming to the Library, however,
patrons from out of town are encouraged to communicate with the Library in
advance of their visits to ascertain availability of materials.
Photocopying permitted only with permission of the Curator of Manuscripts, Lilly
Library.
Preferred Citation
[Item], Tynan, Kenneth mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington,
Indiana.
Processing InformationProcessed by Craig Simpson.
Completed in 2011.
Series:
Box 1
Diaries, 1970-1980
Arranged chronologically and numbered 1-25. Note: diary entries have been
written occasionally out of sequence within the individual volumes.
No. 1-2:
1970, November-1971, July 25
No. 3-4: 1971, August 3-1972, April 12
No. 5-6: 1972, May 5-1973, February 6
No. 7-8: 1973, February 13-September
11
No. 9-10: 1973, October 10-1974, February
23
No. 11-12: 1974, April 3-October 5
No. 13-14: 1974, October 16-1975, February
9
No. 15-16: 1975, February 10-August 11
No. 17-18: 1975, August 13-December 21
No. 19-20: 1975, December 31-1976, June
2
No. 21-22: 1976, June 6-1977, June 5
No. 23-24: 1977, January 16-1979, January
3
No. 25: 1979, August 13-1980, May 5
Series:
Earlier Diaries
Diaries, bound: 1939,
1941
Diary, fragment, 1961, July 9-October 28
Series:
Writings
Manuscript,
The Diaries of Kenneth
Tynan
, edited by John Lahr (2001)
Proof typescript, "Journal of Kenneth Tynan," pp. 1-150,
undated
Proof typescript, "Journal of Kenneth Tynan," pp. 151-295,
undated