As a member of Hinman Production Company, I’ve learned some pretty strange theater warm-ups. But this one tops them all: before a show, someone volunteers to give a rousing (and arousing) speech on why theater is like sex.

“The audience members’ faces are going to get wet. We’re going to put on our costumes, get the audience excited and even dance for them.” It goes on from there. When the speech is over, everyone chants “sex on stage” in a whisper that gradually turns into a shout, and climaxes in — well, a climax.

Anna Feins, the lighting director for HPC and a senior majoring in English, said Sex on Stage is her favorite warm-up.

“It gets you loosened up and forces you to release your inhibitions,” Feins said. While not every show is as bold as “Spring Awakening,” which is pretty much sex from curtain up to final bows, many plays confront, or at least hint at, making love.

People might think Arthur Laurents’ classic “West Side Story” falls at the modest end of the spectrum: the protagonist Maria, sheltered by her parents and elder brother, seems innocent and demure. But beneath the song-and-dance numbers is sexual tension, and a lot of it. In one scene, Anita waits for her boyfriend, Bernardo, to return from the rumble. She sings “Anita’s gonna get her kicks tonight … He’ll walk in hot and tired, so what? / Don’t matter if he’s tired, as long as he’s hot.” In the movie, the phrase is changed to “as long as he’s here” to tone it down a bit. The musical’s approach to sex isn’t always so fun, though, as Anita narrowly avoids a gang rape. The central romance between Tony and Maria plays out in the songs “Maria” and “Tonight,” and the two lovers consummate their relationship at the end of the first act.

Live theaters offers more room for the physical aspects of sexuality. That’s certainly the case in Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx’s “Avenue Q.” The soundtrack includes numbers such as “The Internet is for Porn,” “I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today” and “You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want When You’re Makin’ Love.” There’s even full-on nudity and a graphic sex scene enacted by, in a strange twist, puppets.

Last semester, HPC put on “Hair,” a musical by James Rado and Gerome Ragni that touches on the sexual revolution of the ’60s. The characters rotate lovers on a daily basis and, in the number “Sodomy,” the character Woof refers to “the holy orgy.” An embrace between a woman and two men turns into a kiss, and by the end of it, the woman isn’t involved. It takes balls to tackle such mature content. Of course, they did warm-ups before every show.