An Oral History Of ‘Oh! Calcutta!, Which Premiered 50 Years Ago

“An erotic revue conceived by the English theater critic Kenneth Tynan, Oh! Calcutta! took it all off at the Eden Theater, a former pornographic cinema that had been renovated by the show’s producer. … [Tynan] solicit[ed] anyone and everyone to submit a titillating sketch. Nothing ‘about art or redeeming literary merit,’ he advised. A lot of the luminaries (Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Edna O’Brien) dropped out or were dropped, but the final, all-male lineup included Sam Shepard, Jules Feiffer and John Lennon.” – The New York Times