Purchase the DVD

One Man,
Many Voices and
a Whole Bunch of Choices
a musical dharma-drama
Filmed live at JumpStart Theater in
San Antonio. Based on Rudolf's book
of creative non-fiction with the same title,
HURRY SLOWLY is a warm-hearted
mixture of comedy and drama, fact
and fantasy sketched on multiple
layers of awareness. HURRY SLOWLY
presents a compelling look at the
process of creating a meaningful new
story for ourselves while living in a
culture of conformity and consumerism.
Color/single layer/1 hr. 42 mins.

Review:
One-man show at Jump-Start Theater
is powerful, entertainin
Web Posted: 09/24/2007
Jasmina Wellinghoff
Special to the Express-News

Would you rather be in control or happy? How open are you to life experiences? Are you hungry for more than what your half-life has to offer?
These are some of the questions that Rudolf Harst wants you to explore with him in his one-man show, "Hurry Slowly," currently playing at Jump-Start Theater. Harst premiered the show a year ago and has now brought it back, streamlined and more focused.
Alone on stage, he weaves music, musings, visuals, stories and silences into a spiritual tapestry for the modern age that has a way of making you want to follow him on his journey. The ideas are not new, but the presentation is both entertaining and powerful.
Described in the program as a "dharma-drama," the piece is divided into four parts, conceptually organized around the four seasons, which together represent the circle of life and the forces that shape it. Unlike last year, this time there is no explanatory introduction as Harst, clad in a vaguely Far Eastern costume, walks in, ceremonially holding a candle and intoning about "facing East," spring and renewal.
Time alone with nature, forgiveness, openness to experience without preconceived expectations and an ability to make your own conscious choices are all part of renewal, "in this and every other moment," he tells us. But there's no lecturing. Each concept is fleshed out through humor, song, touches of poetic language and movement.
Summer, autumn and winter bring their own opportunities for facing, embracing and using the mysterious forces. There is a particularly affecting part in the autumn segment about being connected to the earth and through it with the whole of creation, which he introduces through a story of a friend's funeral. After the friend's ashes have been scattered in his garden, the protagonist/narrator notices some ashes on his shoes. That leads to an awareness of standing on sacred ground, which leads to a song about the illusions we humans have about being in control.
Harst knows how to create mood through song ? so much so, in fact, that I didn't want certain songs to end. Unfortunately, the titles are not listed in the program, but a few of them deserve mention: the melodious ballad that includes the lines "Let my heart stay open"; the humorous song that references "absolutely nothing"; the goose-bumps-inducing number mentioned above about the dead putting our illusions to a test; and the moving song that includes the line "roll away the stone" from the winter segment.
Though he plays guitar and flute, Harst also is accompanied by three capable musicians: Ray Palmer (keyboard/guitar), Mark Brill (bass) and Tommy Stephens (percussion).
Under Chuck Squier's direction, the show is masterfully paced for maximum impact, incorporating enough "action" to keep it dynamic but respectful of the material and its meditative passages.
Not everyone will agree with Harst's life philosophy, but many are likely to enjoy his charismatic philosophizing.