Noah Israel, Mason Reeves and Keenan McCarter perform Hair’s familiar songs with exuberance. Hair runs at Signature Theatre in Shirlington through July 7. Photo by Christopher Mueller/Signature Theatre

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Decades after its 1967 premiere, the rock musical Hair is seeing a revival, and with it come many of the staples of the era: Transcendental Meditation, ecology, LBJ, psychedelic aesthetics, the first lunar landing, and general confusion about the best way forward for youth of the time.

Hair began as a New York production. After a four-year run on Broadway, it soon spread to theaters across the country and the rest of the world.

Yet the musical has roots in Washington, D.C.: The script and lyrics were written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado.

Rado was born in Los Angeles but grew up in the metropolitan Washington area. He graduated from the University of Maryland and, after a two-year stint in the Navy, did graduate work at Catholic University of America.

Ragni, from Pittsburgh, attended both Georgetown University and Catholic University.

Young lives shaped by Vietnam

The Signature Theatre’s take on the musical opens with a vintage “Marine Corps Builds Men” video and follows with many hits that have become part of pop culture.

The show, excellently directed by Matthew Gardiner, focuses on Claude, Berger, Dionne and their young friends as the United States becomes mired in the Vietnam War.

New conscripts are being called up every day, and Claude receives his notice from the draft board. He sways between burning his draft card and joining the military.

The cast is highly energetic and sings Hair’s greatest hits with skill and emotion. Amanda Lee (as Dionne) sings a wonderful “Age of Aquarius,” which serves to introduce the show, and her powerful “Let the Sunshine In” concludes it.

Jordon Dobson (as Claude) performs an excellent “Manchester, England,” and Mason Reeves (as Berger) joins Claude and the cast for the eponymous song “Hair.”

Alex De Bard (as Sheila) voices a particularly warm “Good Morning Starshine,” and Solomon Parker III (as the militant Hud) and company deliver a compelling “I’m Black.”

As the introspective Claude, Dobson is first-rate as he vacillates between the pacifist and hedonistic views of his friends on the one hand, and the 1947-era pro-military views of his mother and father.

Dobson is especially effective at conveying this when he is playing a vintage recording of “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover” on his family’s phonograph, perhaps reflecting that this World War II-era song is about peace, and thus the quest for peace might not be as unique to his generation as he had supposed.

Yet he later has a nightmare “bad trip” hallucination of war and death as he nears his decision whether to enlist or not.

Excellent design, music

The scenic design of Paige Hathaway and the lighting design of Jason Lyons are outstanding. Stage props range from glowing crosses to segregation-era signs from the pre-Civil Rights South.

The lighting design transports the audience from brightly lit outdoor street scenes to drug-enhanced psychedelic experiences. The lighting is also outstanding at conveying the feelings of vibrancy and immediacy that the characters are experiencing.

The costume design of Kathleen Geldard likewise evokes the era. Gardiner’s direction and the choreography of Ashleigh King are superb.

The live music of a nine-piece band conducted by keyboardist Angie Benson brings remarkable verve to the performance.

This production of Hair contains outstanding renditions of the songs for which the show is famous. However, the show is also as raw today as it was during the late 1960s, with its frank discussions of race, sexuality, “recreational” drug usage, and who benefits and suffers from war.

Because of such frankness, this is not a show appropriate for children. It will, however, please those who are nostalgic for the counterculture of the 1960s. Audiences may also be surprised at how the conflicts of that time parallel many of our concerns of today.

Hair runs at Signature Theatre through July 7. The theater is located in the Village at Shirlington, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Veterans, teachers and first-line responders are eligible for a 25% discount. For tickets, visit sigtheatre.org or call the box office at (703) 820-9771.