I’ve seen many musical productions in my time, but I can’t remember ever being greeted by a sign warning me of what was to come. There’d be sexual references, drug references, racial slurs, and strobe lighting effects. Oh yeah, and full frontal nudity. In all honesty, that was one of the few things I knew about Hair before arriving at The Art House in Wyong last week. However, I soon discovered that while the pink bits are what Hair is best known for, it’s far from the most important thing about this musical.
If the warning sign out the front wasn’t reminder enough that this musical might take us out of our comfort zone, the sight of Hugh Sheridan’s Berger crawling over the audience in little more than a loin cloth just a few minutes in did it. Seeing Hair certainly isn’t like your average night of musical theatre. It’s bold and funny. There’s a real youthful energy about it, despite its ‘60s setting. In fact, perhaps the young characters have a greater energy than the current crop because they’re connecting with one another rather than their smartphones!
Hair does an incredible job of capturing a moment of time. The characters live life, embrace experience, laugh, and love, but the spectre of the Vietnam War looms large. It catches you at moments, when the laughs give way to pathos. I have been lucky enough to live my life fairly removed from war. I remember the Gulf War in my youth, but watching it on TV didn’t feel too dissimilar to watching a Hollywood action film. It’s palpable here, like another character just waiting to tap the characters we quickly grow to love on the shoulder. They can shake it off for a time and sing another song or smoke another joint, but we know it’ll catch up to them.
Speaking of the songs, it’d be remiss of me not to mention this cast. There are the big names like Hugh Sheridan, Paulini, and Prinnie Stevens, with voices as striking and personalities as sparkling as you would expect of people with their profiles. But there were no weak links here. Matthew Manahan as Claude, Stefanie Cacamo as Crissy, and Callan Purcell as Woof were especially strong.
As the lights faded to black I found myself thinking that Hair was one of the most powerful pieces of theatre I’ve seen. A week later I’m still turning it over in my mind. It’s not like anything I’ve seen before, but that’s one of the things that makes it so special. Let the sunshine in.
This production is travelling all around the country. You can still see it at the following venues.
28 September 2019 – Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong (1.30pm & 7.30pm)
29 September 2019 – Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong (5pm)
3 October 2019 – Sydney Opera House, Sydney (8pm)
4 October 2019 – Sydney Opera House, Sydney (8pm)
5 October 2019 – Sydney Opera House, Sydney (2pm & 8pm)
6 October 2019 – Sydney Opera House, Sydney (2pm & 7pm)
11 October 2019 – Home of the Arts, Surfers Paradise (7pm)
12 October 2019 – Home of the Arts, Surfers Paradise (7pm)
