Rent – Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

Picture: Pamela Raith

Rent continues at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester until 19 September 2021.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Rent has always been a show about triumphing over adversity. From the tragedy that marked its early development – with creator Jonathan Larson passing away just before the show’s Off-Broadway premiere in 1996 – to its award-laden, 12-year run on the Great White Way, its story has been one of repeatedly beating the odds. And, as its reputation and devoted following has grown, it has also begun to mirror the lives of its protagonists, a ragtag bunch of misfits who find love, hope and some semblance of family while scratching out a living among the artistic community of Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

And this Hope Mill production may prove to be the show’s greatest underdog story yet.

Originally scheduled to begin in July 2020, it was postponed until October due to Covid. A socially distanced version began previews but then, as the second national lockdown hit, opened and closed on the same night – not before garnering effusive reviews from press.

The production then had a second life as a streamed show, but, watching it in Hope Mill’s intimate performing space – with a 13-strong cast seemingly crammed in but seamlessly marshalled by Luke Sheppard’s slick direction and Tom Jackson Greaves’ propulsive choreography – the benefits of seeing it live and as originally intended are clear to see.

It would be easy, then, to put the success of the show, the energy of the performers and the ecstatic way it is being received down to the collective sense of joy and relief felt by audiences for a show with such an eventful production history finally getting its moment.

But this was a top-drawer production even before a global pandemic took hold. The show’s own message of hope and friendship – woven into Larson’s songs and characters with a great deal of wit and warmth, and undimmed by 25 years of incarnations – and the confidence with which this young cast delivers now just has the added benefit of making this feel like the perfect production to welcome full capacity audiences back into theatres. You sense the audience is grinning from ear to ear beneath their masks, as well as wiping away a tear or two as the trials and tribulations befalling film-maker Mark (perkily played by Luke Bayer like a lost member of McFly) and his friends begin stacking up in Act II.

Elsewhere in the cast, Tom Francis’ Roger brings a muscular strength to the show’s more robust and rock-edged duets (‘Another Day’, ‘What You Own’), while also combining to touching effect with Maiya Quansah-Breed as his on-again-off-again junkie girlfriend Mimi.

But while Roger and Mimi’s relationship provides the narrative with its emotional spine, the show’s most loving and affecting pairing comes in the form of Dom Hartley-Harris and Alex Thomas-Smith as the tragically doomed Collins and Angel. Their rich, mellifluous delivery of ‘I’ll Cover You’ – which shows off Steve Skinner’s still spine-tingling arrangements at their most lush and heartfelt – provides the Act I highlight, and Hartley-Harris’ heart-breaking reprise of that song is one of the few solo pieces that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the exhilarating ensemble numbers. Of those, ‘Seasons of Love’ is still the undeniable standout, while also giving ensemble players Joe Foster and Iona Fraser a chance to shine.

Sheppard’s direction is so lean and effective that it almost doesn’t draw attention to itself. Yet there is still space for clever moments such as Mimi watching her prone body – in the form of an empty blanket – being attended to by her friends from afar and an electric version of ‘Contact’ with Thomas-Smith’s strikingly dragged up Angel bathed in red neon, courtesy of Howard Hudson’s overwise unobtrusive lighting designs.

However you measure it, this show is a joy from start to finish.

Chris Bartlett