Pencil This In

THEATER: Len Jenkin's Kraken imagines the details of an actual 1856 encounter between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Melville, his Moby-Dick long since met with a critical “meh”, was in the midst of a spiritual journey to Jerusalem – a trip that would, two decades later, yield the back-breaking, 2 Volume, 18,000 line Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land. En route he stopped to visit his old Berkshire homey Hawthorne, now the American consul in Liverpool. In Jenkin’s dramatization, the two literary legends – neither one legendary in their day – spend the evening together confronting their “fears, failures, things of this world and the next”, etc. According to Hawthorne’s diary, ol’ Hermy may have droned on a bit: “Melville, as he always does, began to reason of Providence and futurity, and of everything that lies beyond human ken, and informed me that he had pretty much made up his mind to be annihilated; but still he does not seem to rest in that anticipation; and, I think, will never rest until he gets hold of a definite belief.” Garrett Eisler, who reviewed Kraken for the Voice, writes that the voyage does “dock at a satisfying port.” - John Del Signore

8pm // Walkerspace [46 Walker St] // Tickets cost $18. (Photo: Ana Mari de Quesada)

EVENT: The Happy Ending Reading Series is tonight. Join "enigmatic power-folkie" musical guest Block for a performance, with readings by Matthew Sharpe, Cris Beam and Amy Fusselman. A little more about Block:

On his soon to be released album 'The Last Single Guy,' Block expounds on his days as an East Village stalwart in the anti-folk scene of the mid-90's. The songs on the album slip inexorably between biting irony and deep melancholy, playing out like the contemporary aural equivalent of Salinger's Nine Stories. Each piece in the collection is populated by characters who are recognizably human in their complexity, as the cadences of Block's lyrics locate a common ground between mechanical beats and dangling conversations.

Listen: Ave A.mp3 - Block

8pm // Happy Ending [302 Broome St] // Free

TV: It's the two-hour season finale of Lost! Watch what goes down on the island, from this island...and why not make it a little more interesting? As always, Professor Thoms presents "Get Lost" night. Free shots of "jungle juice" at any mention of "the others" and free Mind Erasers if anyone dies (and considering five people are supposed to die, you better have a big dinner). $5 tropical drinks all night.

9pm // Professor Thoms [219 2nd Ave] // Free

MUSIC: Bowery has a great lineup tonight, and tickets are still on sale as of this moment. So if you aren't watching Lost, head there to see Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts and Stars of Track and Field. Spin.com has an mp3 of the former, check out a video of the latter at one of our Movable Hype shows from last year.

8pm // Bowery Ballroom [6 Delancey St] // $20