2017 Theses Master's

Shedding My Hair: Reflections on a Cross Generational Theater Experience

Rodriguez, Ariel L.

For my Columbia MFA Directing Thesis Project I decided to direct a production of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. This document constitutes a small record of all the work that went into developing the concept and actually creating this thesis production, which premiered in New York City at the Connelly Theater on March 29th 2017, and ran for five performances. One of the most universal aspects of a theater event is its ephemerality, it pops into and out of existence very quickly and leaves a trail of effects in it's wake. In my opinion theater is uselessly judged with conventional categories like beauty, entertainment value, even intention or clarity. Theater can only ever be measured by the force and form of it's collision with our society, and by the magnitude of the ripples that this impact leaves behind.