Theatre Review#2: HAIR THE MUSICAL at The Vault2 min read

There is a theatre swallowing you an underground maze. ‘The Vaults’ is an art-space situated in tunnels under the Waterloo station.

Now it presents musical Hair (50th Anniversary) directed by Jonathan O’Boyle.

The premiere was created by James Rado and Gerome Ragni in 1967 as an off-Broadway show.

Set in the late 1960s, Hair illustrates the hippies who carry on an anti-Vietnam War peace movement, the celebration of ’Love & Peace’, sexual revolution, etc.

One of the members, Claude receives a draft notice. While battling with the leader Berger, he also struggles with finding his true aspiration, voice in the society and the perspective of his life itself.

The enthusiastic younger’s soul and turmoil are represented with all performers’ long hair, nude scene and depiction of illegal drug.

It is also known as the first successful rock musical, which is a term refers to one of styles of musical using many rock music scores having dramatical lyrics instead of spoken words.

Setting a flame in the center, the hippies welcome the audience to sit in their circle.

There are not usual/traditional theatre’s seats but Indian textiles on the straw floor in the space, and everyone including both the audience and the performers can sit anywhere.

The audience have already been involved in the hippies’ hanging out and hope for ‘Love & Peace’ from the beginning.

Therefore, the show starts by breaking down a wall or a boundary between the auditorium and the stage.

By doing this, the basement perfects remaking the place in which the hippies spent their time together, as well as its atmosphere.

In its excellent musical scenes, the above rock musical style worked with Indian cultural aspects, such as yoga-like music and philosophical words, which are also known to have an impact on the hippies.

As a result, there is a series of harmonies of a hot Rock’n’Roll music, Yoga-music-like humming and philosophical/spiritual lyrics.

It can also be seen as a good representation of the hippies’ scream desiring to take drugs.

Last scene, the hippies’ circle-dance engulfed the audience.

People all stretched their hands toward the sun together as if they had tried to show their spirits, bodies and voice to ask for freedom.

Although it was in the basement, I personally felt the earth, universe, freedom, and life at that time.