home
Wedding bells
Wedding Bells, the twentieth song of Bare and the first song of Act 2, is Peter having a dream about his and Jason's wedding, officiated by Sister Chantelle. However, it soon gets corrupted, with Ivy taking Peter's place instead.
Trivia/Important Info:
At the time of Bare's production, Massachusetts was the only state in which gay marriage was legal.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
in the hallway
In the Hallway, the twenty-first song of Bare, is a transition song showing that Peter has moved out of Jason's room and did not come out to his mother over spring break.
Trivia/Important Info:
Megan Lloyd is implied to be Matt's sister, as they share a last name.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
touch my soul
Content warnings: Passing internalized homophobia.
Touch my Soul, the twenty-second song of Bare, focuses on Jason and Ivy's relationship after the two had sex. Ivy tells Jason how much she cares for him, that she loves him and that she's never felt such a way, but Jason realizes that he can't force himself to feel the same way about Ivy that he feels/felt about Peter and breaks it off with Ivy.
Trivia/Important Info:
In "Ever After," Peter tells Jason that he was his "tomorrow." In this song, Ivy also tells Jason that he's "tomorrow," creating a parallel.This song, again, touches upon that Jason believes that being gay is abnormal, given that being straight or even bi/pan--that is, able to love Ivy--would make the world "perfect."
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
See me
Content warnings: Homophobia.
See Me, the twenty-third song of Bare, features Peter attempting to come out to his mother, but she, realizing that he's about to come out, repeatedly interrupts him and changes the subject so that he can't get it out and eventually hangs up on him.
Trivia/Important Info:
None.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
warning
Content warnings: Homophobia.
Warning, the twenty-fourth song of Bare, focuses on Claire's struggles in accepting that Peter is gay, something she had refused to acknowledge or accept despite noticing the signs since childhood. She does, however, recognize that she is in the wrong for not accepting him immediately, and that she loves him nonetheless.
Trivia/Important Info:
None.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
pilgrim's hands
Content warnings: Passing homphobia.
Pilgrim's Hands, the twenty-fifth song of Bare, focuses on the rehearsal of the pilgrim's hands scene in Romeo & Juliet, which, since Ivy has skipped practice (implied to not be the first or second time), has to be done by Jason and Ivy's understudy. Ivy's understudy, Diane, doesn't remember the lyrics, however, and Peter jumps in and completes the scene for her.
Trivia/Important Info:
It took me a long time to get the meaning of this song! I personally interpret it as both a confirmation that Peter and Jason still care for one another (as they're comfortable acting so intimately in front of a crowd as such), but I also take it as symbolism for what their relationship was and has become: their relationship to the rest of the world was all one big act, and now that they've broken up, their relationship as a whole--not just one portion of it--is a tenuously-held-up act. It's all they are anymore.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
g-d don't make no trash
Content warnings: Referenced homophobia, passing racial stereotypes.
G-d Don't Make No Trash, the twenty-sixth song of Bare, features Peter and Sister Chantelle, with Sister Chantelle reassuring Peter that G-d loves him all the same despite him being gay and that, in fact, G-d made him to be gay, and so Peter should be proud of even that part of himself and not try to hide it no matter what.
Trivia/Important Info:
Peter hugs Sister Chantelle during this song, with her hugging him back, the point at which he does varying depending on production.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
all grown up
Content warnings: Teenage pregnancy.
All Grown Up, the twenty-seventh song of Bare, focuses on Ivy's regrets about the past and what she's lost from then to now, as well as the stress of her current situation now that she's found out she's pregnant.
Trivia/Important Info:
It is implied that Ivy's father was not in the picture.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
promise
Content warnings: Being outed without consent (revenge-outing), references to teenage pregnancy, passing reference to sex, (internalized) homophobia, reference to underage drinking.
Promise, the twenty-eighth song of Bare, has Ivy reveal to Jason that she's pregnant. However, since they're in the auditorium just before a play rehearsal, Matt is there and hears this: in his anger, he revenge-outs Jason to Ivy and then to Nadia and Peter when they walk in.
Trivia/Important Info:
Matt learned of Peter and Jason's relationship both when he saw them kissing at the rave (Best Kept Secret) and when Peter told him in Are You There?.Since they're in the auditorium just before a play rehearsal, much of the student body hears the entirety of this conversation, and word about Peter and Jason's relationship spreads throughout the school within the following day or so.Remember that being outed was Jason's absolute worst fear to the point of breaking up with Peter, who he's been with (implied) since they were twelve and who he cares about above all else. This is earth-shattering to him.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
once upon a time
Once Upon a Time, the twenty-ninth song of Bare, focuses on Jason's internal strife now that he's both lost Peter and been outed, essentially losing everything except G-d, who he doesn't even believe loves him due to his sexuality.
Trivia/Important Info:
None.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
cross
Content warnings: (Internalized) homophobia.
Cross, the thirtieth song of Bare, has Jason go to confession to beg the priest to tell him whether or not being gay is okay. The priest refuses to tell him and stalls for time, but eventually breaks and tells him it is not, but that it's okay because "time is on [Jason's] side" and that he can grow out of it.
Trivia/Important Info:
Sister Chantelle, in "G-d Don't Make No Trash," implies the priest is gay, and this song can be read as such, too.
(On the lyrics site I provided, "Cross" is listed as coming after the next song, "Two Households," but "Cross" does come before "Two Households.")
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
two households
Content warnings: Underage drug usage, suicide.
Two Households, the thirty-first song of Bare, has the cast rehearsing Romeo & Juliet one last time before they're on for the show. Jason attempts to get back together with Peter, telling him that they could "leave right now" and be together, but Peter refuses, telling him that he no longer wants to hide.
Trivia/Important Info:
At "never let it be said I don't deliver," Lucas gives Jason GHB, one of the drugs used at the rave.After Peter says "it's over," Jason takes the GHB. It's enough to overdose and die--this is Jason attempting suicide.In "Wedding Bells," Peter says he's willing to leave everything behind to be with Jason; now, however, he's not willing to hide and leave everything behind, showing his development.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
bare
Bare, the thirty-second song of Bare, focuses on Jason and Peter and their reminiscing over their relationship and what they meant to one another.
Trivia/Important Info:
This is the first and only time in the play that Jason explicitly says he loves Peter. He implies it in "Touch my Soul," but does not say it.Jason is literally dying as this song goes on due to his overdosing in "Two Households"; all he wants to do, though, is reminiscence with Peter."We're forever, you and I" is a throwback to "You & I," which takes on a darker tone in this context: Jason is dying, but wants Peter to know that he still loves him, and that they can be "forever" if Peter just holds onto the memory of him.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
queen mab
Content warnings: Suicide.
Queen Mab, the thirty-third song of Bare, takes place during the school's performance of Romeo & Juliet during the Queen Mab sequence between Mercutio (Peter) and Romeo (Jason). Jason is clearly unsteady on his feet and not feeling well, prompting Peter to ask if he's alright, and near the end of the scene, he collapses into Peter's arms, dying on-stage.
Trivia/Important Info:
This is Jason's death song, as he overdosed on the GHB Lucas gave him.In some productions, Jason attempts to kiss Peter throughout the "Peace, Mercutio, peace" and "I'll be fine" lines.In some productions, "'tis no wit to go" is simplified to "this isn't the way things should go."
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
a glooming peace
A Glooming Peace, the thirty-fourth song of Bare, has the ensemble sing the final lines of Romeo & Juliet, symbolically bringing the play itself to a close while also signifying the end of Peter and Jason's relationship and their tragedy.
Trivia/Important Info:
None.
Home | Character Guide | next Song | next Plot-Relevant Song
absolution
Absolution, the thirty-fifth song of Bare, has the priest Jason visited attempting to help Peter come to terms with Jason's death. Peter, however, turns it around and asks how the priest could have possibly acted how he did, knowing Jason was in the place he was. The priest apologizes, and Peter forgives him.
Trivia/Important Info:
The turnaround of the standard roles in confession can be read as a critique of religion.