Historic uprisings have spurred many progressive moments in America — the antiwar protests of the Vietnam era, the Stonewall Uprising for queer liberation and most recently the Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the police murders of Michael Brown in Missouri and George Floyd in Minnesota.
For playwright and School of Communication professor Zayd Dohrn, those moments of unrest aren’t just history — they are core to his newest creation. In his new musical “Revolution(s),” now on stage at Chicago’s famed Goodman Theatre, Dohrn channels the energy of those movements into the layered story of soldier and aspiring musician Hampton Falk-Weems. When he returns to the South Side of Chicago after a tour of duty in Afghanistan, Hampton — like his revolutionary parents did years before — ends up being caught in a resistance movement overtaking his community.
Dohrn, who leads Northwestern’s MFA program in writing for screen and stage, is known for social and political themes in his plays. But “Revolution(s)” is Dohrn’s first-ever musical, and it’s not a typical Broadway-style production.
“It has some great music, but the kind of music hard to find in the American musical song book,” Dohrn said.
“Revolution(s)” blends the musical genres of punk, metal and hip-hop — think funky rock concert with a narrative. The sound for this world-premiere production comes courtesy of Tom Morello, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and co-founder of 1990’s rock band Rage Against the Machine. The two artists began their collaboration during the pandemic. As protests broke out nationwide over the police murder of George Floyd, Dohrn found himself listening to Morello’s fierce, defiant anthems.
“It was matching the way I was feeling about the world and the kind of anger in it, but mainly the defiance of it,” Dohrn reflected. “I texted Tom about combining his music with a story.”