THE NATIONAL Portrait Gallery comes to life tonight with a retro evening of entertainment, “Howl from the Fifties.”

Music tonight will be performed by the Miro Bukovsky Jazz Quintet, but the centrepiece of the evening is a performance relating to that quintessential Beat Generation poem, Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”.

Written by Ginsberg in 1955, the poem became notorious during a 1957 obscenity trial, at which the  presiding Judge Clayton Horn decided that the poem was of “redeeming social importance”.

“Howl from the Fifties ”has been directed by Daniel Lammin and is performed by well-known actor Andrew Lindqvist, soon to be seen in the feature film “Back Country” and the  TV series, “Sam Fox: Extreme Adventures.”

The performance is an adjunct to the National Portrait Gallery’s present exhibition, “Richard Avedon People”, which deals with the work of the late American photographer Richard Avedon, whose work, the Gallery says, “was a profound concern with the emotional and social freedom of the individual in society”.

When you consider that the Beat Generatio  is now  of a certain age, it will be interesting to see how crossgenerational the audience is.

 “Howl from the Fifties”, at the National Portrait Gallery, 5.30 – 8pm Friday,  November 1. $30 / $25 Circle of Friends and concessions. Pay bar. Ticket includes exclusive late night access to“Richard Avedon People”. Bookings to 6102 7070 or bookings@npg.gov.au