''Oh! Calcutta!'' is an avant-garde, risqué theatrical revue created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in London for over 3,900 performances, and in New York initially for 1,314. Revivals enjoyed even longer runs, including a 1976 Broadway revival that ran for 5,959 performances, making the show the longest-running revue in Broadway history, the second longest-running revival (after ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

''), and the eighth longest-running Broadway show ever. The show sparked considerable controversy at the time due to its extended scenes of total nudity, both male and female. The title is taken from a painting by Clovis Trouille, a portrait of a reclining nude.

Background

Tynan came up with the idea of putting on an erotic revue in the early summer of 1966. Tynan had hoped that

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

would direct the production, in order to give it avant-garde legitimacy, but Pinter declined. Sketches were written by, among others, Samuel Beckett, John Lennon, Sam Shepard, Leonard Melfi, Edna O'Brien, Sherman Yellen,

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer ( ; January 26, 1929 – January 17, 2025) was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Pulitzer Prize for Editori ...

and Tynan, and featured the cast nude. Peter Schickele (also known as the creator of PDQ Bach), Robert Dennis and Stanley Walden were the revue's composers, known as The Open Window. Beckett's contribution, '' Breath'', was used as a Prologue in the original New York staging, but Beckett eventually withdrew permission for its use. Tynan commissioned British Pop artist Pauline Boty to make a series of paintings of erogenous zones on which the revue would be based. Boty died of cancer in July 1966 so only managed to complete one painting, her last: ''BUM''.

Productions

The musical opened off-Broadway at the Eden Theatre on June 21, 1969, transferred to the Belasco Theatre on February 17, 1971, and closed on August 12, 1972, after a total of 1,314 performances. It was directed by Jacques Levy and choreographed by Margo Sappington. The cast included Sappington, future television stars Bill Macy and Alan Rachins, as well as Leon Russom, Nancy Tribush, Philip Gibson and George Welbes, and three "Open Window" composers. The musical premiered in London on July 27, 1970, at The Roundhouse, and transferred to the West End

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

on September 30, 1970, running until January 27, 1974. The show then transferred to the Duchess Theatre on January 28, 1974, where it ran until February 1980, for a total of 3,918 performances. The London show was produced by Michael White. NYC-Oh Calcutta-1981

A revival opened on Broadway at the Edison Theatre on September 24, 1976, and closed on August 6, 1989 after 5,959 performances, again directed and choreographed by Levy and Sappington. The revival briefly became the longest-running show in Broadway history. It remains Broadway's eighth longest-running show and the longest-running revue in Broadway history. The Spanish-language premiere production opened on October 9, 1977 at Teatro Príncipe in Madrid, Spain, directed by Juan José Alonso Millán, who also translated the show.

Filmed recording

A pay-per-view video production played on closed-circuit television in select cities in 1971, and was released theatrically in 1972. In both cases, many cities and municipalities banned its screening. Frank Herold, an editor who worked on the film, commented on that in a brief post he contributed to the relevant Internet Movie Database page.

Synopsis

''Note: the revue takes place in the form of sketches. These are taken from the 1971 pay-per-view production with lyrics and music by Robert Dennis, Peter Schickele and Stanley Walden (unless otherwise noted).''

Act 1

;Prologue: Samuel Beckett's " Breath" (until licence withdrawn by author) ;Taking Off the Robe The actors dance and remove their robes to the opening song ("Taking Off the Robe" (Oh! Calcutta!)). ;Jack & Jill A boy and a girl who just met are in their own playland, with the boy constantly trying to find ways to seduce the girl, who is afraid of him because he is a boy. The sketch ends with the girl in a coma after the boy rapes her. ;A Suite of Five Letters A song of five letters written by anonymous authors about their sexual preferences. They were actual letters to the editor from various newspapers from olden times in London and, later in the Suite, contemporary letters from sexual newspapers of the day. ;Dick and Jane An uptight girl gets a lesson in loosening up after her lover is sick of her constantly stiff ways. ;Will Answer All Serious Replies A young couple starts to rethink getting into the swingers lifestyle after meeting the middle-aged couple who answers their ad. ;Delicious Indignities A chaste woman is caught by her admirer, who then proceeds to learn that she is not as chaste as he thinks she is. It was written by Sherman Yellen. ;Was It Good for You, Too? A man participates in a sex study and the whole experience ends up turning into one big farce. The scene plays like the Marx Brothers at a sex research facility.

Act 2

;"Who, Whom (Exchanges of Information)" (added during run) ;Life Is Over Much Too Soon A pre-recorded section, where the actors are nude outside doing interpretive dance ("Much Too Soon", music and lyrics by Jacques Levy, Dennis, Schickele and Walden). ;One on One Another nude interpretive dance. ;Rock Garden After a man rambles on about painting the fence and building a rock garden, his son talks about what girls ''really'' like. ;Four in Hand A newcomer to a masturbation game cannot seem to think of anything to masturbate to (this sketch's first draft was written by John Lennon). ;Finale Players come out to sing the finale, also doing voiceover as to what the theater patrons are really thinking about the experience. Examples include: "She has pretty eyes" (the joke being that all of the actors are nude at this point), "How come none of the guys have

hard-ons The Hard-Ons are an Australian punk rock band, that formed in 1982 in Punchbowl, New South Wales. Its founding members were Keish de Silva on lead vocals and drums, Peter "Blackie" Black on guitar and backing vocals, and Ray Ahn on bass guita ...

?" "That's my boyfriend—that IS a hard-on" and "If they showed this in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Agnew would shit!" ("Coming Together, Going Together").

Critical response

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, the ''New York Post''. Barnes had sign ...

, in his 1969 review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', wrote that "the humor is so doggedly sophomoric and soporific", adding: "The failure here is almost exclusively a failure of the writers and the producers. The director, Jacques Levy, has done his best with the weak material at hand ... the nude scenes, while derivative, are attractive enough. The best effects—including the rather sweet grope-in immediately after the intermission—have been taken from

Robert Joffrey Robert Joffrey (December 24, 1930 – March 25, 1988) was an American dancer, teacher, producer, choreographer, and co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets. He was born Anver Bey Abdullah Jaffa Khan in Se ...

's ballet '

Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Greek language, Hellenized form of the Religions of the ancient Near East, Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic language ...

', and the show uses the same projected media designers ... In sum, ''Oh! Calcutta!'' is likely to disappoint different people in different ways, but disappointment is the order of the night."Barnes, Clive
"Theater: 'Oh, Calcutta!' a Most Innocent Dirty Show"
''

'', June 18, 1969.

Irving Wardle John Irving Wardle (20 July 1929 – 23 February 2023) was an English theatre critic and author. He wrote about theatre for ''The Observer'' from 1959 to 1963, for ''The Times'' from 1963 to 1989, and for ''The Independent on Sunday'' from 1989 ...

, writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' in 1970, said: "I have seen better revues than ''Oh! Calcutta!'' but none based on ideas that strike me as more sympathetic. Namely that the ordinary human body is an object well worth attention: and that there is no reason why the public treatment of sex should not be extended to take in not only lyricism and personal emotion but also the rich harvest of bawdy jokes." He noted that the enjoyment and lack of embarrassment of the cast helped the audience to accept the more insubstantial elements of the revue's material and that the stage sets' screen projections assisted the dance numbers considerably, concluding: "In many ways, it is a ghastly show: ill-written, juvenile, and attention-seeking. But it is not a menace."

Obscenity allegations

The 1970 production at

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, a circ ...

, London, attracted the attention of the Metropolitan Police's

Obscene Publications Squad The Paedophile Unit is a branch of the Metropolitan Police Service's Child Abuse Investigation Team, Child Abuse Investigation Command, based at Scotland Yard in London, England. It operates against the manufacture and distribution of child pornog ...

, which sent two officers to a preview of the show. One of the officers returned twice more, before recommending a prosecution under the

Theatres Act 1968 The Theatres Act 1968 (c. 54) abolished stage censorship in the United Kingdom, receiving royal assent on 26 July 1968, after passing both Houses of Parliament.Director of Public Prosecutions sent its panel of experts, including two retired headmistresses, to see The Roundhouse production. Their judgement that it was not obscene enabled it to transfer to London's West End.

References

External links

* * * * BroadwayWorl
listing
{{Sam Shepard British plays 1969 plays Revues 1969 musicals Broadway musicals Plays by Sam Shepard Nudity in theatre and dance Obscenity controversies in theatre Counterculture of the 1960s