Review: Hair the Musical brings the hippie era to New Wimbledon Theatre

When I dressed up with a homemade flower crown earlier today, my new look reminded me of Thursday evening’s outing. Daddy T and I had been invited to the gala night for Hair the Musical at New Wimbledon Theatre, and suddenly the headband and long-hair look seemed perfectly normal.

The 50th anniversary production of Hair the Musical, directed by Jonathan O’Boyle, takes audiences back to the 1960 hippie era and tells the story of a group of youth–the tribe–living a free-spirited lifestyle and protesting against the Vietnam war. Dressed in baggy pants, cropped tops, vests and kaftan-style dresses, the tribe tells their stories one by one, and when it emerges that one of the boys-Claude–has received a draft to join the army, the group tries to encourage him to resist it.

When the musical first came out in 1968, it was seen as controversial and breaking down barriers in the theatre industry. For us, the first act still shocked by ending in a nude scene.

At times, I felt the floaty atmosphere and style in this musical could make it seem tame, but for me, the wow moment came at the end. In the second act I had to whisper to Daddy T: “That was beautiful.” It was the cast’s a capella version of Let the Sunshine In that really took me by surprise. I think this last song underlined the singing talent in the group, which fits with the fact that there is a large number of songs in Hair, including the hit Age of Aquarius.

I was impressed with X-Factor’s Jake Quickenden in the role of the energetic Berger, who worked the audience and even jumped into the stalls, and X-Factor’s Marcus Collins, who plays Hud, was another favourite.

The set was appropriately colourful, featuring bright-coloured ribbons hanging from the ceiling and covering the walls. In addition, special effects like flames and smoke was included in several scenes, and the glow-in-the-dark props also stood out.

Hair is playing at New Wimbledon Theatre until Saturday 30 March.

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Tags: Hair the Musical, New Wimbledon Theatre, Review