Kenneth Tynan by Kenneth Tynan
Tynan was not only the 20th century's most influential theatre critic, but his writing was itself a 'high-definition performance' - one of the qualities he always sought in others. This volume brings together the best of Tynan's theatre writing drawn from his twelve years as a theatre critic (1951-63).
'Open his collected reviews at random and you find sentences in which perception is matched by Augustan balance.. as these extracts prove, any editor today would give their eye teeth to have such a scintillating stylist and impassioned commentator at their command' Michael Billington, The Guardian 'Required reading for intelligent, irreverent young things... Theatre Writings is an infallible chronicle of a crucial phase in the history of this country's drama' New Statesman 'Kenneth Tynan sclerotic is more acute and entertaining than anyone else at their most superbly responsive.' Observer 'astonishing and unique literary voice... This welcome reissuing of his Theatre writing and Profiles is a timely reminder that there was more to him than a capacity to wear maroon couture and to spank botties. Every page is a circus act of dazzling wit, and insight, and humanity, and outrageous wordplay.' Sunday Times 'It has been a long time coming, but this book at last redresses an absurd negligence... There isn't a page of this book that doesn't contain some precision-tooled vignette or bon mot, cut and polished till it gleams just so... 'Tynan's achievement, as distilled into these two splendid collections... is to have raised prose criticism to the level of an art form, melding the melodic fluency of his sentences with a hawklike beadiness of observation. 'To read Tynan is to be thrilled into paying better and closer attention - which, in short, is the point of criticism in the first place.' Sunday Telegraph
Kenneth Tynan (1927-1980) left Oxford to become drama critic of the Evening Standard. After an influential spell on the Observer he joined Laurence Olivier's new National Theatre as its Literary Manager. He also devised and produced the notorious revue, Oh! Calcutta. Dominic Shellard is Head of the English Department at Sheffield University. He has published seven books on British theatre, notably Kenneth Tynan: A Life (Yale University Press, 2003).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781854590503 |
| ISBN 10 | 1854590502 |
| Title | Kenneth Tynan |
| Author | Kenneth Tynan |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Nick Hern Books |
| Year published | 2007-01-11 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |