A Beat in Time: The Allen Ginsberg Project
- Public Event
This is the last of four performances.
Under the direction of Caltech Theater head Brian Brophy, the seven actors share the voice of Ginsberg, frequently playing both narrator and other characters. At some points they dictate the challenges of their generation, of being homosexual in an unforgiving sexually conservative world, of experimenting with drugs and travelling the world. At other points, the actors take on roles of characters from Ginsberg's life, such as his mother, his friend Neal Cassady, or even the poet himself to demonstrate important scenes in the writer's life.
The feel of the piece is fluid, the transitions subtle, with the experience bordering on hallucinatory at times with projections, sound and celebrating the exploratory mid-fifties flow of live jazz. Barb Catlin (director of the Caltech Jazz Band) along with Caltech grad students Muir Morrison (tenor Sax) and Asher Preska-Steinberg (guitar) will create free/improvised jazz inspired by the readings.
The actors include Alex Chernoff, Manan Arya, Andy Colburn, Alison Koontz, Maryam Ali, Chandru 'GG' Dhandapani and Barbie Insua.