Hair / our review

Nosalgic hippie ROLLERCOASTER

May 10th, 2017

Kitty McCarron

Kitty McCarron

Destined for madness or greatness.

There is no denying that Hair is one of the most influential musicals of the 20th century. A tribute to counter culture by Gerome Ragni and James Rando, Hair's outrageousness has positioned it somewhere between infamy and greatness. And that's before you even mention the tunes.

This vivid production has been deftly crafted with a ton of heart and good intentions. Within the confines of the Vaults, carpeted with the grass of Central Park, we're treated to a raft of fabulous performances of themes that veer between the various benefits of marijuana to the resistance of The Draft, Hair's ever present antagonist. All of this with a smother of sexuality, introduced by the ever excellent Andy Coxon as Berger, and his also excellent fringed thong.

However good the game, five star performances of the cast, they can't outweigh the show's equally scantily clad plot that only catches up with its intent in the last 10 minutes. Of course when 'The Age of Aquarius' looks and sounds this good, it's hard to be hard on a show half a century old.

Somewhere in those last 50 years, the tie dye colours seem to have run in the wash, making this searing political and cultural commentary lack the depth and resonance it once held, the anger imbued within it now coming off as naivety. Perhaps that is the passage of time, our meaner world, or the fault of the nostalgia machine that has eaten up much of the free-spirit vibe of the 60's and packaged it back to us as a commodity, but that is a another conversation for another day.

Hair is greying, and despite this ebullient and sexy iteration, those who'll enjoy it most will be the ones that loved it the first time round.

Reviewed by Kitty on October 5th
@ThisIsKittyMac

Hair is at The Vaults until December 3rd

View our show pages for more information about Hair, The Vaults.

Hair, The Vaults, London

Hair

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The Vaults: Closed Jan 13, 2018

James Rando's iconic counter-culture ode to youth, love, fear and freedom in the 1960s reaches it's 50th anniversary this year and the Vaults are laying on a birthday bash to remember with this new immersive...more info

Book TicketsBook tickets for Hair, The Vaults, London

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