Following the footsteps of the beats

Beat play takes unique approach by including audience in a walk around North Beach

By Brian D. Rossman

Howl! Sometimes that is the only way to get people to listen. That was true in 1957, according to the revolutionary collection of poetry written by the voice of the beat generation, Allen Ginsberg. Some would say it is true 43 years later in Silicon Valley.

According to the protagonists of the play, Mad to live/Mad to talk, which debuted in San Francisco last week, the need to howl is just as relevant today. The play evolved from producer Shelley Campbell's passion for beat writers. Campbell credits them with exporting San Francisco's counterculture far outside the region and, ultimately, affecting values all over the world.

After watching this play, I was struck by the commentary's timeless appeal and relevance in today's Silicon Valley. It seems to say, "Wake up! Look all around you. We are more than just cogs in the military-industrial machine."

Mad to live/Mad to talk grew out of a literary walking tour that covered the San Francisco literary scene, and the play's audience follows the action by walking from scene to scene with the actors.

The play takes place in 1957 with a series of five conversations at five unique North Beach locations. The conversations are conducted between two North Beach beats. Ms. Campbell narrates as the play moves from set to set.

The play represents a new form of "live cinema" according to writer/director, Alan Weisskopf. "I think of this play/tour as 'live cinema.' Due to the close proximity of the actors, four to eight feet away like a camera closeup on celluloid, and the fact that it takes place at five locations in North Beach that are traversed by foot, makes it seem like the entire play is connected by a sense of motion with the audience being guided from set to set."

Why "live cinema?"

"The 'live cinema' quality of this play," Weisskopf said, "was something I consciously had in mind as I was writing the script, [it] makes for a very real, very visual experience. We see the two characters, Sal and Mardou, in real-world settings, with all the photographic reality that an audience expects from a film shot on location--and from the camera's more intimate point of view--a close-up of sorts".

The small audience (eight, when I attended) resembles a camera crew watching a live performance, which adds to the play's intimate appeal. I felt as if I was part of the conversation. In fact, there were many occasions when I wanted to jump in and "howl."

Weisskopf adds, "I like movies. I like the cinema experience. This project has been written and staged to feel like a mix of movie and stage play. That seems especially appropriate for a modern audience more experienced with film. I think it will be fun, unusual and enlightening."

Adding to the life-imitating-art feel of the presentation, the production ends with dinner at director Francis Ford Coppola's café in North Beach.

"That the audience goes to dinner at Cafe Niebaum-Coppola after the performance is one more layer of on-location reality and a great way to end an unusual evening that has been full of ideas and insight and humor, as well as a tour through North Beach," expounded Weisskopf.

When I mentioned that this seemed to be part of the audience participation portion of the play, Weisskopf agreed, adding that he believed that the dinner was the sixth and final scene of the play.

"I am really contemplating having this dinner inside and attended by the actors. I think the exchange of ideas at that point would be very similar to the experience of North Beach in the '50s."

The return of counterculture to our consciousness--that would be something well worth howling about. Howl.com--Ginsberg in the Internet age, now that would be life imitating art!

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