3 DECEMBER

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

2391

Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal
No. 220

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in
the matter of an application by the Comptroller of Customs
for a decision in respect of the book Oh! Calcutta!, by Kenneth
Tynan, published by Grove Press Incorporated, New York.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

THERE was no appearance on behalf of the Comptroller of
Customs nor of the publisher's representative in New Zealand.
Accordingly no submissions were made to the Tribunal.

Oh! Calcutta! is introduced as an entertainment with music,
devised by Kenneth Tynan, directed by Jacques Levy. The
document before the Tribunal is the third printing of an
edition copyright in 1969 by Grove Press Inc. It is stated that
the premiere of Oh! Calcutta! was at the Eden Theatre in
New York City on June 17 1969, after 39 preview performances. The edition before us is illustrated with photographs by
Friedman-Abeles from the New York production. On the front
cover a painting by Clovis Trouille is reproduced.

Briefly, the book is the libretto of the series of dramatic
sketches which make up the stage performance known as
Oh! Calcutta! which has achieved considerable notoriety as
one of the first modern dramatic performances featuring complete nudity of the actors.

We are agreed that the work is a minor one of no particular
intrinsic merit. It is amusing and shocking rather than
unhealthy, but we have had to consider whether its light-
hearted treatment is a manifestation of simple natural exuber-
ance or of a disposition to debase and "trivialise" sex. In
arriving at our respective conclusions we have been able to
accept accounts of the performance which suggest that in the
stage context, with skilful lighting and appropriate music,
and played rapidly, the impact of this work could well be
quite different from that made by this illustrated printed script.
We are, however, neither required nor empowered to make
any classification of the peformance as a whole, nor do
we believe that our judgment in the matter of the particular
script before us is, in fact, a prejudgment of any production
of the review.

In its final decision the Tribunal finds itself divided. The
majority, consisting of the Deputy Chairman, Mrs Cochran,
and Mr Johnston is of the opinion that this book is indecent
within the meaning of the Act. They consider that contem-
porary New Zealand standards would not authorise the
publication of this particular script combined with the particu-
lar illustrations of stage nudity which, as still pictures, make
up a reasonably large part of the book: publication, they feel,
would not be in the public interest.

The Deputy Chairman, Mrs Cochran, and Mr Johnston are
of the view that both text and illustrations contribute to the
effect the work as a whole gives of being pruriently self-
conscious about its sexual explicitness. This is most apparent
in the final sketch of the revue as staged. This sketch is
described as "a reflection of the attitudes the actors had about
auditioning for Oh! Calcutta!; about the rumors which were
everywhere about what was going to be done in the show;
and, in a capsule version, what the process of working on the
show was like." Whatever the effect of this particular sketch
on the stage, the text is, in places, offensively crude, and,
because the revue has become its own subject, devoid of any
sufficiently justifying context. The illustrations taken together
seem partly to be intended to give the book its own notoriety
as the record of a notorious theatrical occasion. Some of the
sketches have satiric and humorous qualities, but there are no
reasons of artistic or literary merit to make its circulation
justified under section 11 (2) of the Act. The majority notes
that the opening sequence of Oh! Calcutta!, the one page
Breath by Samuel Beckett, which can properly be regarded
as an important addition to this author's work, has already
appeared in a well-known theatre journal.

The Tribunal has stated on several occasions that it must
have regard to what is currently acceptable in the community.
It has also noted that the over-riding consideration in making
its classifications must be the public good.

The minority, Messrs Schroder and Perry, are equally
strongly of opinion that the phenomenon of this form of stage
presentation is very much a matter of public interest, which
has been widely served by the news media; that members of
the New Zealand community who wish to inform themselves
about it from an authoritative and illustrated script ought to
be in a position to do so; and that the fact that the work
may be performed in New Zealand at any time should only
strengthen their contention that members of the public should
not be denied the opportunity of exercising their own judg-
ments. As their view does not prevail they find it unnecessary
to proceed further and decide whether or not they consider
an age restriction should be imposed.

The majority decision prevails and accordingly this edition
of Oh! Calcutta! is classified as indecent within the meaning of
the Act.

F. MCCARTHY, Deputy Chairman.

3 November 1970.

Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal
No. 221

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in
the matter of an application by the Comptroller of Customs
for a decision in respect of the book The Sensuous Woman
by J, published by Lyle Stuart Incorporated, New York.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

THERE was no appearance on behalf of the Comptroller of
Customs nor of the publisher's representative in New Zealand.
Accordingly no submissions were made.

The Sensuous Woman offers a programme for transforming
any female into a sensuous woman. Some of it is witty enough
to suggest that an original satiric intention has been taken over
commercially. Where it takes itself seriously the book's views
of sexual behaviour may seem to many to be quite offensive.
Although the dust jacket describes the experiences as those of
"a woman who has completed the long trip from poor to great
sex and love" there is little to indicate that the more complex
intimacy of love is involved in sensual experience.

The chapter entitled "How to Drive a Man to Ecstasy"
seeks to glamourise practices which are still usually regarded
as perversions and, together with other material in the book,
make it unsuitable reading for younger people who cannot
weigh the attitudes conveyed. It is accordingly classified as
indecent in the hands of persons under 18 years of age.

F. McCARTHY, Deputy Chairman.

3 November 1970.

Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal
No. 238

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in
the matter of a reference to the Tribunal under section 12 (1)
of the said Act by the Magistrate's Court at Wellington for a
decision and report in terms of the said section in respect of
the magazine Girls of the World Volume 2, No. 2.

DECISION AND REPORT

THIS magazine was referred to the Tribunal by the Magistrate's
Court sitting at Wellington pursuant to section 12 (1) of the
Act.

We refer to the Tribunal's decisions No. 177, published in
the New Zealand Gazette, 6 November 1969, No. 72, at page
2217 and 202, published in the New Zealand Gazette, 21 May
1970, No. 29, at page 895, and we adopt the criteria laid down
in those decisions and declare this magazine to be indecent
within the meaning of the Act.

F. McCARTHY, Deputy Chairman.

3 November 1970.

Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal
No. 239

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in
the matter of an application by the Secretary for Justice for a
decision in respect of the magazine Swingle, Volume 16, No. 1,
November 1969, published by Magnum-Royal Publications,
New York.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

THIS magazine—which we note is “for adults only”—is com-
posed entirely of photographs of more or less nude females
in distorted sexual attitudes, crude sexually suggestive line
drawings and “hotted up” jokes of doubtful vintage but of
undoubted obscenity.

The Tribunal refers to the criteria set forth in its decisions
on magazines of this type published in the New Zealand
Gazette of 18 September 1969 and 28 October 1969 and classi-
fies the magazine as indecent.

F. McCARTHY, Deputy Chairman.

3 November 1970.