Hare Krishna/Be-In: A Comparison

When writing the musical Hair, James Rado and Gerome Ragni were more interested in creating plot and characters which were “generated by attitudes and perceptions rather than the reverse.” (Wollman, 2009) The aim was to highlight a “specific group of people at a particular point in time” rather than to create a conventional musical and specifically influence the culture upon which it was based (Wollman, 2009). This idea of the plot and characters being generated by society is evidenced by the fact that each of the revivals that took place around the globe soon after the original Broadway run had adaptations which reflected on the country and or state in which it took place. However, it could be argued that without the creation of Hair this

Since the 1960s, the mantra has been made well known outside India by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his International Society for Krishna Consciousness, though members are more commonly known as the Hare Krishnas due to the three Sanskrit names of the Supreme Being; "Hare", "Krishna", and "Rama". During the late ‘60s and early ‘70s the Hare Krishnas became confused with Hippie subculture which was a problem as the ideals of the two groups were quite different. The Hare Krishnas were open to anyone, but they had to follow the four regulative principles, one of which is to strictly abstain from the use of all intoxicants including marijuana. However, in ‘The Age of Hair’ (1991) B.L. Horn notes that, when in places such as the Haight and New York’s East Village, researchers noted vast diversity within the larger group known as hippies, including those termed “Krishna devotees” which could give reason as to why the Maha Mantra is used within

It is as Claude gets closer to making the decision to accept the draft and go to war that the rest of the characters begin to lose their faith, culminating in the final song, ‘Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)’. During the song “[Claude] still embodies the optimism of the Tribe, but… Claude has been killed in Vietnam, the very war he and his friends had been protesting. The great “future” he dreams of is gone” (wendla1891, 2017). The final section of the actors’ repeated plea for the audience to participate in the action and extend their message offstage by enacting change in the world, rather than just passively watching for entertainment also feels like a loss of faith. In both the original Broadway run and most subsequent revivals the entire cast except Berger leave the stage whilst still singing this section, parting to reveal a lifeless Claude lying in a grave centre stage (Horn, 1991). As the only character left onstage Berger is seen as the last semblance of hope within the show, remaining faithful to the idea that their efforts to end the war will succeed and the world will become a safe place for