NEW YORK CITY, NY: Jack Kerouac - Last Call at 13th Street Repertory - Tom O'Neil's Jack Kerouac - Last Call is a supposition of the last few hours in the life of the prolific writer for the common man and the "beat" generation of the late 1950's and early '60's, Jack Kerouac. As the story goes, Kerouac spent the last [night] of his life in a small bungalow in St. Petersburg, Florida. The story is set in this dingy bungalow on October 21, 1969. In a constant drunken state, Kerouac's mind wanders and visions of the most meaningful persons in his life appear to him, as he winds his way toward death in squalor.
The details of the play seem more surreal than factual, much like Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, a place where time has either stopped or has no meaning. Characters float in and out of scenes in an eerie fashion that gives one the feeling of being in dream, or was that merely my college days flashing back to me.
John Jordan movingly portrays Kerouac as the odd man out. He appears to not care for anyone or anything, but is inwardly tortured by his demons; those of love, guilt, life, the death of his brother Gerard, and alcoholism. The tragedy of his life is deliciously offset by his cutting wit. The writers thoughtful descriptions of the world as he saw it are lovely to watch.
Stanley Harrison's direction is stylistic and simple but poignant as Jack is visited by the significant people in his life, such as Allen Ginsberg, a fellow upstart writer who is enamored of Jacks writing. Other visitors to his delusion are long time friend and ne'er do well, Neal Cassady, a hooker named "Red," two journalists entitled Writer #1 and Writer # 2, and interestingly, at the end, Neal's wife.
The two journalists seem to be parts of his alter ego. One wants to capture the legend and the other desperately wants to find "Jack Kerouac" the man, adeptly played by Tim Cox and Michael Mercandetti respectively. One wants a juicy story, while the other wants more to get inside Jacks head.
Deirdre Schwiesow is well cast as Red, the hooker. She comes to him and they do a stylized dance of their lovemaking, the first time for Jack, and talk of the importance of that moment in his life. The dance climaxes and ends with her declamation that he never returned to her.
Kyle Pierson, turns in a boisterous Good Ole' Boy performance as Neal Cassady. He's a thrill seeker who doesn't seem to care about anyone or anything besides having a good time. Cassady lives on the coattails of Kerouac. Kerouac enjoys him as his muse, capturing Cassady's stream of consciousness style of letter writing on which he would base his most acclaimed work On the Road. Cassady doesn't even really seem to care that Jack was having an affair with his wife. Although he does, make the quip of a schoolboy, "She loved me more." In the play Neal is a ghost, and Jack and Neal talk openly about it. It seems that Neal was found dead by the railroad tracks, dying the way he lived, just simply not giving a damn.
A character of special note is Allen Ginsberg, played by Gavin Smith. Smith gives Ginsberg a doe-eyed sincerity and an unabashed geeky-ness that made him quite lovable. Allen Ginsberg, a truly extraordinary writer of this time as well, tries to be the voice of reason to Jack, but fails in this endeavor because he is enamored of him, both physically as well as intellectually.
Finally his lover, Carolyn, Neal's wife, played by Meredith Faltin, helps ease Jack into oblivion with a kind soft word and gentle caress.
Kerouac is a "trip" into the last few hours of the great proletarian laureate of the 50's and early 60's. If you liked his work, you'll find it an interesting conjecture of the last few hours of his tortured life; if not, you'll find it a piece of potential insight to a character who helped shape the ideals of a nation during the tumultuous times of the beat generation and on into the 60's. It makes me want to pick up On the Road and give it another read.