Sex, drugs and protest: Hair’s got it all

BY MARC LALONDE

Marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca

The 1960s are back in town.

Bell-bottoms, love beads, long hair, social rebellion, anti-war sentiment and

psychedelia will take centre stage when John Abbott College theatre students present their final play of the semester in coming days.

It’s a piece of theatre that should

resonate with contemporary audiences because themes explored then are

repeating themselves today, director Rob Burns said.

“It’s a play with people rebelling against a war that isn’t very popular and asking questions about everything,” he said. “It’s like history is repeating itself today.”

“We also wanted to find a show that would accommodate the whole

department. It has 25 actors in it — it’s a real ensemble piece — and a very

theatrical production, and that’s been a lot of fun for the technical and design people,” he added.

With “huge, towering, wonderful” sets, and a stage awash in lights designed to remind viewers of the “turn on, tune in and drop out,” acid culture of the ‘60s — but without the dangerous hallucinogens to gum up the works.

“That was the great rebellion. People were asking questions about everything, about sex, about drug use, about civil rights and about the war. If you weren’t with it, you were against it, much the same as it is today. Luckily, the tide is starting to turn on that front,” he said.

The plot follows the adventures of a group of young, politically active friends in New York in the ‘60s who called themselves the Tribe. The friends go through life together until one of the group declines to burn his draft card and is sent off to Vietnam.

The play won’t hold true to previous incarnations in one respect, though. The musical’s first act, which when first staged, ended with a nude scene involving most of the cast.

The legendary scene from the musical won’t be repeated, but most of the popular songs made famous in the ‘60s and ‘70s — like Aquarius and Good Morning, Starshine, will be on tap, theatre department administrator Carolyn Murdoch said.

“It’s colourful, it’s bright, it’s fun and it’s populist, but there’s no nakedness in this one,” she said, laughing. “It’s a talented cast, and Rob (Burns) can help anybody sing, and with this group of kids, we didn’t have that much work to do.

“It really is going to be like the acid experience without the drugs,” the Pointe Claire resident added. “They’ve done a phenomenal job, and the play is very relevant, even today.”

Hair will run at John Abbott College’s Casgrain Theatre from May 3 to 12, 21275 Lakeshore Rd. in Ste. Anne de Bellevue. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and seniors.

Tickets can be purchased at the John Abbott College box office or by calling 514-457-2447.