There are many themes in Hair the musical, but the most impactful themes were the theme of gender equality and love and happiness. These two themes were the most prominent one. The story is about the marriage of three daughters of a man who is a follower of traditional patriarchy system. The man named Tevy had full control of this family. But in the end, all his daughters married the men they love. This fact completely justifies the theme of gender equality the song “Do you love me’ is the perfect example depicting this theme. Another prominent theme in this story was love and happiness. This story gives a message in the end that true love is the real source of happiness. Even if there are many problems in life but when there is true love, there is happiness. The song “laden with happiness and tears” summarizes this theme that the only thing remains is happiness even though life is full of sorrows and complications.
Hair the musical was initially produced in the 1960s. It was a product of hippie counterculture and was revived in 2009 as something different which attracted people of every ethnicity and age. Savran believed that the old version of Hair was not authentic as it gave the impression that mayhems of the 1960s destroyed class-based politics and improved the conditions of the labor and wage-earners. The 2009 revival of the Broadway show was authentic as it recognized the true spirit of capitalism more accurately than the old version. I believe that the original production was authentic as it was produced during the era of Vietnam war and it the play indeed justified its theme and concept during that time. It is the reason why it was so popular (Nielsen and Ybarra).
Works cited
Nielsen, Lara D., and Patricia Ybarra. Neoliberalism and Global Theatres: Performance Permutations. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
