Review: HAIR (DRESS REHEARSAL) at Göta Lejon

Milos Forman's film Hair (which is based on the musical Hair from 1968) came out in 1979 and it is one of those films that is stucked in my mermory me since then, even though I was only 11 years old at the time. The music, the story, the characters and the peace fight were so strong and powerful and the ending so touching. However, the drug thing was a bit shady for an eleven-year-old in Motala (thank goodness). Haven't seen the movie in years and haven't listened to the music in ages, but the memories are there. Had read that the plot would be moved to the present but had missed that they chose not to follow the slightly altered plot from Forman's film but that they are back to the original musical. When you enter the salon, you are met with a scene that is supposed to represent a modern shopping mall, Euromania. Looks cool and think this will be exciting. But a bit into the musical I wonder a little what is this? Where is the action? This is not correct. So forget the plot of the movie, the relationships and how the characters were because it's not the same as in the movie. For example, Berger is not the masculine, muscular cool guy, but becomes an androgynous skinny guy in Viktor Norén's interpretation.

This set is more of a concert version of the musical. It takes a while into the first act before it even feels like there's a weak plot in it. The second act is mostly an LSD hallucination that gets a bit long-winded and I can only agree with the line which was something along the lines of "The script department lost it". In the second act, the image of war becomes more present, but even with a Putin mask, weapons, etc., the war protest and the peace manifesto are not as strong and significant as in the film. The message doesn't quite get through. It gets lost somehow. There is no innocent victim who is mourned by his friends as in Forman's film and I am not touched or engaged. However, there are some funny lines which makes the audience laugh.

It is absolutely impossible to not get dragged into the energy that radiates from the artists to the audience. They really show "I got life" and give the audience all they have and the curtain bow oozes with hope and joy and it feels like they don't want to leave the stage. The fans of Victor Norén and Moonica Mac will thoroughly enjoy this show. The fantastic music and songs have been given more modern arrangements which I like overall and it is a stroke of genius that the musicians are on stage and become part of the "tribe". Jonna Bergelin's clothes together with Helene Norberg's mask and wig are awesome and really lift the performance and partially move us away from the 60s to the present, but a certain hippie feeling is still there. The lighting design is stylish and enhances the more modern feel. Very good visual packaging.

I can only recommend to those of you who are going to see it or are thinking of doing it that you clear your brain of your memories from the film if you have seen it and let yourself be enveloped by the music and energy of this young ensemble and "Let the sunshine in" and you will get an energetic new Hair experience.

Hair opens the 28th of January and runs till the 13th of May.

Tickets are on sale at: