Through a haze of smoke and veils of unwashed locks, Hoof 'n' Horn brings yet another Broadway favorite to the Duke community this month.
The student-run theater company will perform James Rado's Hair in Sheafer Theater for the next two weekends. Hair gives performers and audience members alike the chance to relive America's grooviest decade from the party scene, to the bedroom, to the front lines of Vietnam.
A politically charged and controversial musical, Hair is particularly significant given the parallels between our current military situation and the circumstances of the era in which the show is set.
Though the the show was not deliberately chosen for this reason, current events influenced some aspects of its production said Director Dominik Fungipani, a graduate exchange student from Germany.
"Iraq might make it more obvious to everyday people why this show is so relevant," said Josh Posen, a senior and president of Hoof 'n' Horn.
Hair is also infamous for its sexually explicit scenes, as well as the onstage nudity that has shocked audiences since its premiere in 1967. Fungipani said he has contended with this delicate issue in creative ways.
"I basically wanted to have it done the way I wanted to have it done, appropriate or not," Fungipani said. "As long as my cast is comfortable with what is going on on stage we go for it."
Fungipani has added another dimension of controversy by turning Berger and Woof, two of the traditionally male leads, into female roles, introducing a more complex sexual ambiguity.
"It was done because we had lots of great female actors and I wanted to cast all of them so we decided that these roles would work as female characters as well," Fungipani said. "It also adds some content or meaning to the show that wasn't in there before, though issues of homosexuality have always been in the show."
However, this element addresses not only sexual confusion but also grey areas on a moral and social level.
"It's pansexuality. It's bigger than bisexual-in any different circumstances you can go one way or the other," Posen said.
Hair is a production that succeeds in mocking both uptight traditionalists and its own hippie heroes. Despite lyrics and dialogue that often border on the absurd, the show ultimately makes a powerful statement whose social and political significance resonates across decades.
Hoof 'n' Horn will be performing Hair January 18-21 and 25-28 in the Sheafer Theatre. Visit www.duke.edu/web/hoofnhorm for show times and to purchase tickets.
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