beat

Jug o?Wine Productions and S.D. Wagner present the world premiere of beat, a true downtown theatre experience celebrating the life and times of Allen Ginsberg, one of this century?s most controversial and beloved literary figures. Part docu-drama, part poetry slam, part musical jam session, the play stars Dan Pintauro (TV?s Who?s The Boss, The Velocity of Gary) as the young Ginsberg and is directed by playwright Kelly Groves.

The result of years of research, beat reconstructs the events surrounding the formation of the Beat Generation in New York and San Francisco in the 1940?s and 1950?s, incorporating letters, journal entries, and other never-before published writings from such Beat luminaries as Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady. The play traces the events of 1957 when copies of Ginsberg?s masterpiece (and perhaps the battle cry of the Beat Generation) Howl were seized by U.S. Customs and subsequently declared ?obscene” by the San Francisco police. Ginsberg?s publisher was put on trial for obscenity in a case that later stood as a major victory in the fight to battle censorship.

Weaving the events of the famous Howl trial with the events of Ginsberg?s early life and career as he struggled with his identity and sexuality, beat captures a seminal moment in American history and celebrates freedom in all its forms ? from self-expression to gay liberation to the abolition of censorship, beat ultimately attempts to question the place Art has in the all-important future of our society.

Schedule

August 9th at 9:30PM
August 10th @ 4:15PM
August 11th @ 1:45PM
August 14th @ 4:45 PM
August 16th @ 8:45PM
August 17th @ 4:00PM