First Rehearsal - I'm Going To Hell

Posted on: 11/04/2008 09:54

So the first Hair! rehearsal was Sunday, and MAN was it fun. We started on Aquarius - fantastic. It already sounds brilliant, and that was us learning the parts! When we get a rollin', it's going to rock people's worlds.

But even more fun than that was doing the blocking and singing for Hashish and Sodomy. Yeah. I'm going to have to be careful who from my church to invite, because Sodomy is being performed like a Sermon. We are taking a communion of pills and booze, and pushing Baptist-Evangelical religious fervour as far as it goes. My ex-RC boyfriend already jokes that I'll be burning in hell right along side him.

As for Hashish... well, it's an orgy of sex and drugs onstage, really. I must admit, it's interesting from an acting perspective because I have never taken drugs but I have to make it seem like I have and do all the time. I was surprised to find that the first little improv we did passed without many inhibitions or limitations... and once it was over, I sort of shook my head and said "I think I've lost 5 minutes of my life". I was concentrating on being 'out' of it so much, that I have a very hard time remembering what I did exactly.

Have many of you seen this play? What a provocative show...

Faerenach's blog

Comments

wrdwryter

Posted on: 11/07/2008 17:24

Hi Faerenach

I've been reading your blog about your acting experience with great interest. Yes, I have seen the show. Way back in the olden days when 'Hair' first came out, I bought the record (no CD's, tapes at that time) and drove my parents crazy playing it all the time. I told them for my sixteenth birthday, I wanted to see the production. I think it was playing at the Royal Alex in Toronto. I remember getting the book of the script and all the music and words to the songs. I read a great deal and so did my family. I was also encouraged to ask questions when there was something I didn't understand. My poor dad was horrified when I asked him what a string of words meant (they were the ones to Sodomy) . He told me to look them up in the dictionary! Which of course I did! I was a real innocent in those days.

Anyway, I don't think you'll go to hell for being in the play. It was a very powerful experience and I remember at the end, the whole audience stood silently and held hands. I cried and so did many of those around me. I'm sure as you get into the rehearsing, that you'll find the spirit of it. For all it's focus on drugs and sex, it is a commentary on the whole purpose of war. It was written at a time when people were beginning to realize what was happening and how wrong it was.

I look forward to hearing about your further experiences. Have fun and 'break a leg'!