BEAT GENERATION by Jack Kerouac Set for Staged Reading 10/10-14 in Lowell, MA

Merrimack Repertory Theatre and the University of Massachusetts Lowell announced yesterday – which would have been Jack Kerouac's 90th birthday – they will present the world premiere of the Lowell native and literary icon's only full-length play, "Beat Generation," in a staged reading for eight performances only.

The world premiere of the play is the centerpiece of the 2012 Jack Kerouac Literary Festival, which will be held Oct. 10 through Oct. 14 in Lowell, Kerouac's hometown. The festival – held every two years by UMass Lowell, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! and numerous other community partners – features a variety of programs inspired by Kerouac's works and life in Lowell, and showcases prominent contemporary authors. Anita Shreve, Russell Banks and Andre Dubus III were among the writers who participated in the last Kerouac Literary Festival. This year's theme is "Writing and Music."

Beat Generation is a story of friendship and karma set in the 1950s and its characters and dialogue capture the Beat mentality at the roots of American counter culture as only Kerouac could. The play's premiere is being presented in Lowell with the support and collaboration of Kerouac Literary Estate representative John Sampas.

"At midcentury, Jack Kerouac and his fellow Beat writers posed a series of pertinent questions regarding the assumptions of the Cold War, the attractions of suburban family life, the costs of conspicuous consumption, and what they saw as American spiritual deprivation," said Todd Tietchen, a UMass Lowell English professor and expert on Beat Generation writers. "Those questions take center stage in Beat Generation, as the principal figures of this important literary movement reaffirm their friendship in a search for alternative approaches to life," said Todd Tietchen, a UMass Lowell English professor and expert on Beat Generation writers.

The play's premiere and the festival come during what many are calling "The Year of Kerouac," which also includes the theatrical release of the feature film "On the Road," based on the author's most famous book and the U.S. publication of the recently discovered Kerouac novel, "The Sea is My Brother."

"This is a moment of literary and theatrical history," said MRT Artistic Director Charles Towers. "When the Beat Generation manuscript was discovered in a warehouse in 2005, it made international news. Such is the remarkable influence of Kerouac on contemporary culture. Now, the entire script of Beat Generation will be first spoken aloud on the stage in Lowell, his native city, and it is fitting that Lowell's professional theater company – Merrimack Repertory Theatre – is producing its world premiere."

The university posthumously awarded Kerouac an honorary doctor of letters degree in 2007. That same year, the university and Lowell National Historical Park hosted an award-winning exhibit of the "On The Road" scroll – Kerouac's 120-foot-long original version of the manuscript – in honor of the 50th anniversary of the novel's publication. The exhibit drew more than 25,000 people to Lowell.

"It is very exciting for UMass Lowell to be part of the world premiere of Jack Kerouac's only full-length play," said UMass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan. "As Kerouac's artistic influence on this city, his hometown, is still so great, it is important that this work be presented in Lowell first. UMass Lowell is proud to partner with Merrimack Repertory Theatre to bring this unique literary experience to our students and the community."

Born Jean-Louis Kerouac in 1922, Kerouac is Lowell's most famous native son. He was a football star at Lowell High School and was awarded a scholarship to Columbia University. However, Kerouac was unhappy in college and after his father lost his printing business, he dropped out of school. During World War II, he joined the Merchant Marine and became friends with Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. Kerouac wrote his first novel, "The Town and the City," about his struggle to balance the expectations of his family with his unconventional life, which was published in 1950 with Ginsberg's help. Kerouac took several cross-country trips with Cassady during this time, which became the basis for his most famous work, "On The Road." The manuscript – presented to his editor on a single, unbroken roll of paper, the scroll that was later exhibited in Lowell – was rejected and six years would pass before it was published in 1957. In the years in between, Kerouac followed Ginsberg and Cassady to San Francisco and the term "Beat Generation," which Kerouac coined, gained popularity. When Kerouac finally broke through with the release of "On The Road," he was faced with challenges presented by the fame that followed, trying to live up to the image portrayed in his novels and facing criticism from the literary establishment for being part of what was considered a fad. He would go on to publish additional novels, many of which used settings based on Lowell – including "Doctor Sax," "The Subterraneans," "The Dharma Bums" and his final great work, "Big Sur." He settled in Florida with his wife, Stella Sampas, and his mother, where he died in 1969 at age 47. He was buried in Lowell.

Even after his death, Kerouac's popularity continues. "On The Road" has remained widely read and Kerouac was named one of the most important figures of the 20th century by LIFE Magazine and the Times of London. In recent years, interest in Kerouac has grown with the publication of his letters, poetry, spiritual writings, early novels and more from his remarkable literary archive. He has been cited as an influence by countless writers and musicians, including The Doors. A 2005 forum in New York featured a reading of a brief passage from Beat Generation by actor Ethan Hawke, but the world premiere in Lowell will be the first presentation of the full play.

For more on the production and the Kerouac Literary Festival, visit www.uml.edu/kerouacplay.

To post a comment, you must register and login.