Are Barbers Really the Enemy?
Berkeley High has gotten a rep for being urbanized with minorities. But never fear, the school has not yet lost its 60s innocence.
Students at Berkeley High will “Let the Sunshine In†by performing a 40th anniversary celebration—and critical examination—of the musical Hair, this weekend and next on campus at the Florence Schwimley Theater.
Director Maya Gurantz, founder of the East Bay theater troupe Ten Red Hen, which just finished their run of Clown Bible at the Willard School Metalshop Theater, called the production “a full collaboration with the students; they own the piece. They’ve been so creative.â€
“I was interested in a way for the cast to look at the legacy of hippies at Berkeley High and in their lives,†Gurantz said. “Hair itself wasn’t written by hippies, but by a couple of out-of-work New York actors. There’s a famous letter by Hal Prince to them saying there’s nothing experimental at all about the play. The music is ‘50s music, not ‘60s. It’s not genuine to the period, yet its legacy is that people are moved by it. It’s still provocative. It’s full of contradictions and we use it as a way to look at the contradictions of the legacy of the ‘60s.â€
We were never aware that you could have a ‘legacy of hippies’. Aren’t hippies famous for doing absolutely nothing? By that logic, shouldn’t any slacker be famous? Or has Homer Simpson stolen the spotlight from all of us? We demand explanations.
BHS Revives ‘Hair’ for 40th Anniversary [Berkeley Daily Planet]
(Image from Guidasicilia)
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