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The Beard; [a Play]
The Beard; [a Play] [paperback] McClure, Michael [Apr 01, 1967]
Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
182 people want to read
About the author
Michael McClure
221 books62 followersMichael McClure (born October 20, 1932 in Marysville, Kansas) is an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955 rendered in barely fictionalized terms in Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums. He soon became a key member of the Beat Generation and is immortalized as "Pat McLear" in Kerouac's Big Sur.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 15, 2020
"the Beard is a milestone in the history of heterosexual art." - Kenneth Tynan
A fascinating little piece of Beat history, The Beard is a quirky exploration between Harlow and Billy the Kid as they find themselves in a 'blue velvet eternity' and slowly begin to peel away layers of cultural conditioning to reveal a throbbing sensuality.
As originally staged it proved to be so controversial it provoked police intervention and months of litigation, before the San fran Superior Court dropped the case, and performances resumed.
A fascinating little piece of Beat history, The Beard is a quirky exploration between Harlow and Billy the Kid as they find themselves in a 'blue velvet eternity' and slowly begin to peel away layers of cultural conditioning to reveal a throbbing sensuality.
As originally staged it proved to be so controversial it provoked police intervention and months of litigation, before the San fran Superior Court dropped the case, and performances resumed.
May 7, 2020
Billy the Kid and Jean Harlow. In Eternity.
July 14, 2025
enjoyed this more than i initially thought i was going to. every straight couple i’ve ever met has met this way / still acts like this. brutal
August 12, 2014
This is my favourite McClure play to date and this is undoubtedly his most notorious play out there.
Jean Harlowe and Billy the Kid are stuck in oblivion and both are obsessed with their own type of divine beauty - Harlowe's is obviously a beautiful, physical and graceful beauty while the Kid's is more of a legendary dead-youth beauty. A very funny and heated conversation ensues between the two in this post-death one scene play between the two. I love McClure's poetry (for the most part) but usually do not like his plays. This is by far the best one I have read. Look forward to reading Josephine the Mouse Singer too, a play McClure received an award for.
Here's hoping there is video footage somewhere of this play from the 60s. Would love to see it.
Jean Harlowe and Billy the Kid are stuck in oblivion and both are obsessed with their own type of divine beauty - Harlowe's is obviously a beautiful, physical and graceful beauty while the Kid's is more of a legendary dead-youth beauty. A very funny and heated conversation ensues between the two in this post-death one scene play between the two. I love McClure's poetry (for the most part) but usually do not like his plays. This is by far the best one I have read. Look forward to reading Josephine the Mouse Singer too, a play McClure received an award for.
Here's hoping there is video footage somewhere of this play from the 60s. Would love to see it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews