More than a half-century after “Hair” challenged audiences with its antiwar message, a new Chicago production featuring Columbia alumni is using the musical to reflect today’s political unrest.
Produced by Kokandy Productions, the revival updates the 1967 musical with references to today’s political movements, including immigration, the war in Gaza and contemporary protest culture, while retaining its antiwar message. The production runs through Sept. 12 at the Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park.
Columbia alumni Nicki Rossi, Zac Richey and Kirsten Baity are involved in the production. Kijani X, a musical theatre major, is also in the production.
The plot follows a commune of hippies, referred to as The Tribe, leading a bohemian lifestyle in New York City. One of these hippies, Claude Bukowski, must decide if he is going to join the army or continue living in the commune.
Rossi, a 2024 graduate of Columbia with a BA in acting, plays Jeannie in the show. Jeannie is an expectant mother who lives in the commune and is openly in love with Claude.
“She has such a capability to really thrive and exist in a commune like this,” Rossi said of her character. “She cuts to the truth so often in this piece.”
The show is known for its vignette-style writing, with a lack of a central plot for many of the characters. The second act is a depiction of a character’s experience after ingesting acid.
“The rehearsal process was super collaborative with this piece,” Rossi said of the show’s loose plot. “It’s a vignette of a bunch of different ideas just kind of flowing together like a big old acid trip.”
The show is performed in the round at the Chopin Theatre, meaning that audience members sit in a circle around the stage while there is no distinctive stage left or stage right. Many of the seats in the theater are made of plywood and decorated with cushions and blankets, offering a unique experience for audience members.
Pens are also offered to the audience and they are encouraged to write on the set. Many took this as an opportunity to express their frustrations with today’s political climate: “Fuck Trump” can be found written on the set multiple times.
Baity, a 2021 graduate of Columbia with a BA in theater with a concentration in playwriting, is the intimacy director for the show.
“‘Hair is a devised piece with a lot of rules,” Baity said
“There’s not a lot of ‘this is how the plot goes’. There’s pieces that you have to make up. It’s like, how do you make this story a throughline for you?”
As an intimacy and violence director, Baity choreographed many moments in the show.
“One of the things I learned at Columbia was how to work with some of the other people who are in the cast and on the crew, because we all went to school together,” Baity said.
“I have an understanding of how they operate and some of the things that they know, because I know that they had the same teachers I had.”
While the script is set in the late 1960s, Kokandy’s production is much looser in its time period.
At one point, the show depicts the characters in protective protest gear as they hold signs stating “Free Palestine” and “Fuck ICE.”
“I want people to feel uncomfortable,” Rossi said.
Zac Richey, a 2021 graduate of Columbia with a BA in musical theatre and a minor in stage combat, plays Berger in the show.
Berger is the driving force behind much of the commune’s actions throughout the show. He regularly hands out drugs for the group to ingest, and he acts as Claude’s guide throughout his decision to join the military.
“He sort of represents the militant left, which is incredibly cathartic,” Richey said of his character.
“It’s weird, because it does feel cathartic, and then I’m very aware of the fact that I’m doing a play about it while people are having their lives taken,” Richey said of the show’s political nature.
“I like that it has been a place for the artists who are making this show to let out some of their frustrations,” Baity said.
“We say free Palestine, we say fuck ICE, we say free Congo,” Rossi said.
“Hair” will run until Sept. 12 at the Chopin Theater in Wicker Park.
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