AC/DC: O’Rourke’s and Nepal, Nepal

This tape features raw footage shot for a 1974 video version of "AC/DC," a play by Heathcote Williams satirizing the mental heath industry.

00:00Copy video clip URL This tape begins with static.

00:15Copy video clip URL Open on the inside of O’Rourke’s Public House in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood. The camera operator pans around the room, capturing bar patrons and bartender (Eddie Holstein?), ultimately focusing on a giant poster of Irish poet Brendan Behan covering most of the wall. The shot is repeated several times.

02:29Copy video clip URL There are repeated takes of actor Barry Bender walking out the door of the bar and falling down drunk.

06:51Copy video clip URL Static.

07:08Copy video clip URL Fade into a shot of actor Warren Casey dressed as a news reporter sitting at a news desk (the character Grayson). He reads a report aloud about a plane hijacking that took place near Nepal while en route from Tibet to India. All in a single take, Grayson repeats the same story word for word without stopping, gradually replacing more and more of the copy with the word “Nepal.” As he reads, he gets angrier and angrier and finally culminates in a frenzy, shouting “Nepal” and tearing up his papers.

13:22Copy video clip URL Tape ends.