Hair Charles Cryer

Hair a musical featuring sex, drugs, religion and racial issues is not what you'd expect from the Spiral Youth Theatre.

Spiral has been going for five years.

Set in New York in 1968 the play is a tribute to flower power. The main character Claude, is contemplating what to do with his life apart from smoke drugs, and Vietnam sounds like a good starting point in deciding.

Overall Hair was ambitious and intelligent, not smutty and distasteful.

Fair enough, a couple of F' words slipped out, and I think every drug under the planet was mentioned, but it all made sense.

The audience was made up of mainly teenagers and adults and no-one was offended it was a night for peace, love, drugs and sex to run riot in youngster's imaginations.

The singing was average, but one person stood out.

Georgina Wyatt played Ronny a powerful and tireless member of the hippy tribe who people could rely on for a word of advice.

Georgina could handle the high and low notes and shone above the others during the big numbers. She has studied at the famous Brit School and is currently in a gap year.

David Ayres who was last seen in Death of a Salesman managed to keep up his scary image with another freaky performance as Woof.

Woof appears throughout the play, declaring his love for Mick Jagger, and if you don't think that's scary you should have seen his red wig.

The lead character Claude was played by the svelte Stevie Taylor, Max Newham and Yusuf Tary completed the four strong male cast.

The set was simple but effective with lashings of flowers and star spangled banners.

Hair demonstrates things are never the same as you grow older, something the young don't realise until it's too late.

Director Kate Puleston deserves credit for a brave and inspired look into the hippy revolution.

November 6, 2001 12:00