1968 – Claude Hooper Bukowski lives with his friends Berger, Sheila and a few others in a hippie commune in New York. Claude, who could no longer endure the life in his middle-class home, Berger, who was expelled from school and Sheila, a political peace activist, find refuge with each other. They all wear their hair long as a symbol of nonconformity. They reject the establishment and all forms of violence. They forge new paths and lead a free life without social constraints: free love without jealousy – a utopia. They experiment with various ways of life and mind-expanding drugs.

Everything changes when Claude receives a notice that he’s been drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. All of his friends burn their draft cards – Claude hesitates. Torn between patriotic values he grew up with and pacifist ideals, he is overcome by inner conflict. Should he follow his friends’ example and refuse to serve in the army regardless of the possible consequences or should he go to Vietnam?

Like no other Broadway musical, ‘Hair’ reflects the zeitgeist and youth culture of the late 1960s. Similar to ‘West Side Story’ in the late 1950s, it describes the young generation’s growing sense of defiance against false bourgeois attitudes and moral concepts. Both of these shows rank among the most successful musicals in the world and have received international critical acclaim.

Following an Off-Broadway preview in October 1967 at Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre, the production moved to the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway in April 1968. The German adaptation, called ‘Haare’, premiered on 24 October 1968 in Munich. In 1979, ‘Hair’ was made into a film starring Treat Williams, John Savage and Beverly D’Angelo under the direction of Miloš Forman.