Geoffrey Pond will perform in this California Stage production

California Stage presents I’m Always Drunk in San Francisco, a loving tribute to the culture and history of one of the greatest cities in the world by some of the greatest writers of all time. San Francisco history comes to life with the words of Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain, Jack London, H.L. Mencken and Gary Kamiya. Conceived, performed and co-written by Geoffrey Pond and directed by Robert Ernst.

Pond has transformed stories originally written for publications, such as Colliers Magazine, into a series of lively monologues. Stories include: Jack Kerouac’s account of the famous Six Gallery poetry reading in 1955 where Ginsberg’s poem “Howl!” was first read and the Beat scene was born; Jack London’s terrifying eyewitness account of the ’06 earthquake and fire; H.L. Mencken’s humorous little-known story of the bourbon-fueled 1920 Democratic National Convention at the then newly built San Francisco (Bill Graham) Civic Auditorium; and Mark Twain’s impressions of 1860’s San Francisco, including his first public lecture at The Academy of Music on Pine Street. Pond also shares the poetic and historic writings from Gary Kamiya, the author of San Francisco: The Cool Gray City of Love, editor of San Francisco Magazine and San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Continue reading →