Description
Despite the ecstatic, uplifting dance party that ends the Public Theater’s triumphant revival of this 1967 hippie extravaganza, one leaves depressed. The reason is twofold: First, 41 years after the debut of this epochal musical which glorified peace and love, the U.S. is again stuck in an unjustifiable imperialist quagmire. Second, we have no radical antiwar movement comparable to the one that inspired the show. But these glum thoughts are swept away by the psychedelic rush of groovy costumes, songs and acres of untamed locks. Director Diane Paulus and a terrific young cast leap clear over the generation gap to deliver a mystic vision we sorely need.—DC