The Cast Photo by Michael-Brosilow

Directed by Brennan Urbi with music direction from Kara Olander, Kokandy's production invites its audience, many of whom are seated right in the stage area on Eleanor Kahn's set design–which feels as "found" as the tribe itself–to become parts of the group. Performers roam about the audience before the show, sitting next to us and engaging in conversations, breaking down any possible fourth wall that might separate us. When props are needed–platforms, lockers, guitars, microphones, wigs, or whatever–the hippies carry them in. Everything is wide open–including the "realistic" bedroom/den set in which we first see Claude Hooper Bukowski, the one character who straddles the tribal world and what lurks outside, the one we are meant to sympathize with.

Gavin Rhys does everything he can to aid us in that connection. Claude is one of the hippie tribe, but somehow separate as well. He clearly enjoys his time with them, but is not as free as they are: something nags at him, and he is torn when his draft card's due date arrives: should he drop all the way out of the obligations of life or should he drop out of the tribe? Other characters try to help him–they all want him to stay, of course–but he has a difficult time finding a way to give up everything he has always known. He is more serious a person than most of the tribe, and it is clear from the beginning.

Some of the many excellent performances here–the whole cast is outstanding–come from Zac Richey as Berger, the biggest drop-out of them all; Chosen Mitchell as Dionne, who shines as her "Age of Aquarius" sets the scene for us; Joshua Emmanuel, whose rendition of "Colored Spade" is as angry and frustrated as his character Hud must be with the social order of the 1960s; Catherine Rodriguez O'Connor as Sheila, whose "Easy to Be Hard" grounds the first act and whose "Good Morning Starshine" enlivens the second; Stone TeSelle's Woof, who has a lot of fun caricaturing Margaret Mead in "My Conviction"; and Amy Yesom Kim's Crissy, whose adorable, sweet "Frank Mills" shows another side of all of this. (I'm sure that I have not named all of the performances I should; this is, as I said, a great cast.)

Kahn's set not only has the proper "found" feel, but it is also a bridge to today's world, covered as it is with graffiti written by audiences, who are given markers to add whatever we want. (My own "Protect Trans Youth" may not be very '60s, but there are certainly some cast members who will appreciate it.) In addition to the set, G. "Max" Maxin IV's lighting, which incorporates black light effects in places, is outstanding, and Rachel Sypniewski probably had more fun than ever designing the costumes (as did Syd Genco with makeup and Keith Ryan with hair and wigs). Matt Reich had the difficult task of designing sound for the show and succeeded nicely, as did Lauren Ramos with props and Kirsten Baity with intimacy direction in a show where characters have few boundaries. (It was the '60s after all.)

If the success of a production of Hair lies in how much we feel for Claude, though, this one doesn't fully succeed, at least not in the riser section of the audience where I was seated. Despite Rhys' best efforts, it is very hard to single out one character when focus is pulled in many different directions (sometimes at once). It's not director Urbi's fault either; there are just so many moving parts. Maybe from the floor seats I would have been able to connect to him better; as it was, I just had to chalk it up to the many, many characters and the craziness of the movement (which Urbi choreographed and which was also excellent).

This tribe believes that it needs drugs to "rediscover sensation," but Claude's ultimate fate, seen in the song "Flesh Failures," is a stark reminder that we need only open our eyes to "let the sunshine in" and know the truth. Kokandy's production makes it clear that that message is just as important today.

Hair runs through September 13, 2026, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. Chicago IL. For tickets and information, please visit www.kokandyproductions.com.