"Wholly Communion," a 32-minute report on a recital by a gang of modern poets, mostly beatniks, in Albert Hall in London in 1965 is a useless narration. It is colorful and droll for about 10 minutes. Then it is a repetitious bore.
In Summer 1965, the Hall was filled to overflowing for the historic gathering of world voices which celebrated the renaissance of performance poetry and international times.
WHOLLY COMMUNION marks Whitehead's first breakthrough: a document of the historic convention at the Royal Albert Hall of English and American Beat poets. Starring Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and more. "The Albert Hall poetry reading memorialized in Peter Whitehead's Wholly Communion brought the stars of US Beat poetry together with their English peers. As a reading it was chaotic - but as a cultural event it was incomparable. It was the climax of beatnik dreams, and the launch of the hippies. Seven thousand people arrived, a vast "alternative" constituency few could have imagined. The Albert Hall, booked for 450 pounds, had never seen anything like it. From it came the confidence to found the first "underground institutions", The Indica Gallery, The International Times and much more.
In Summer 1965, the Hall was filled to overflowing for the historic gathering of world voices which celebrated the renaissance of performance poetry and international times.
WHOLLY COMMUNION marks Whitehead's first breakthrough: a document of the historic convention at the Royal Albert Hall of English and American Beat poets. Starring Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and more. "The Albert Hall poetry reading memorialized in Peter Whitehead's Wholly Communion brought the stars of US Beat poetry together with their English peers. As a reading it was chaotic - but as a cultural event it was incomparable. It was the climax of beatnik dreams, and the launch of the hippies. Seven thousand people arrived, a vast "alternative" constituency few could have imagined. The Albert Hall, booked for 450 pounds, had never seen anything like it. From it came the confidence to found the first "underground institutions", The Indica Gallery, The International Times and much more.