Beautiful Losers is a heartfelt tribute to American writer Jack Kerouac and his larger-than-life muse Neal Cassady - the free-wheeling drifter who was the inspiration for On the Road.
The Beat Generation classic published in 1957 is often cited as the essential catalyst for the cultural revolution of the 1960s, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest it continues to work its magic for today's readers - luring sober citizens from the dull routines of conventional existence with an intoxicating vision of ecstatic personal freedom.
Margaret-Mary Hollins' stylish direction captures the wild, fragmented quality of Kerouac's writing while emphasising the historical context that gave birth to the Beat movement.
The electrifying rhythm of bebop pulses through the show, and Mike Hudson's perceptive script situates the optimistic energy of 1950s youth culture within the American frontier tradition.
As Kerouac and Cassady speed through the desert on their way to visit William Burroughs in Mexico they seem to embody the restless spirit of Hollywood cowboys - haunted by the trauma of broken homes and driven onward by sentimental longing for a bucolic domestic paradise.
