Rent – New Theatre, Peterborough

Picture: Louise Waldron

Rent continues at the New Theatre, Peterborough until 29 June 2024, and then plays at the Queen’s Theatre, Barnstaple from 3-7 July 2024.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Jonathan Larson’s Rent rocked the 1990s theatre landscape with its bold and gripping exploration of the AIDS crisis and cemented itself as one of the most influential pieces of musical theatre. Following cult oddity Superbia and the semi-autobiographical Tick, Tick… Boom!, Larson’s work exploded onto Broadway with his tale of bohemian dreamers hoping for better days while living under the looming shadow of disease. The show broke new ground, created a community for outsiders, and made stars of Taye Diggs, Anthony Rapp, and future Elphaba and Elsa Idina Menzel. But Larson would never learn of its success, sadly dying of an aortic aneurysm the day before the show’s first Off-Broadway preview, forever tinging the show with a note of heartbreaking tragedy.

The power of Rent lives on, remaining a beloved cult classic to this day, and a new professional production from Landmark Theatres has hit Peterborough’s New Theatre. It’s a New York Christmas Eve in the mid-90s, and floundering filmmaker Mark (Jack Reitman) and former rock singer Roger (Luke Friend) are struggling to make ends meet or even keep warm during a blackout, and are now being asked to pay the rent owed for the previous year to their former-roommate Benny (Myles Hart) after he changes the terms of their existing agreement. The night brings other surprises, as outside, their friend Collins (Cameron Bernard Jones) is mugged, and helped by flirtatious drag queen Angel (Kyle Richardson), while neighbour Mimi (Evita Khrime) knocks on Roger’s door and the two have an instant attraction. The show follows the lives of these characters over the next year, exploring their relationships, bohemian ideals and health crises as the AIDS epidemic grows ever stronger, and they learn to measure their lives in love and the importance of living in the moment.

Larson was posthumously decorated with Tony Awards, Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Rent, and while it may be arguably light on plot (despite its lengthy runtime), the strength of its characters, emotional gravitas and musical brilliance make it an incredible and important watch. The rock score is instantly catchy, though equally has its moments of quiet beauty and gospel reverence that really deliver the story’s emotional beats.

Directed by Paul Jepson, Landmark’s production is gritty, raw and packs a weighty emotional punch. The  “rough around the edges” style absolutely suits the tone of the bohemian story, allowing its characters and their journeys to take centre stage. Amanda Stoodley’s set design works well, feeling suitably industrial and run-down, and the space is used well, save for a handful of therapy scenes which feel crammed into too tight a space and block the audience from fully registering the emotion in the drama. The show does feel a little long, but that’s the material rather than the way it’s delivered, which is competent and heartfelt. Alistair Penman’s sound design is effective, ensuring the rock opera’s narrative is clearly conveyed and its fast-flowing lyrics come through loud and clear. The band (led by musical director Mark Crossland) occasionally feels underpowered (notably at the start of bohemian-anthem ‘La Vie Bohème’), but other times feels rich and driven, and they do largely make a great sound for a small group of five talented musicians.

The nature of Rent means any production lives or dies on its lead performances, as they’re the lifeblood of the piece. Reitman makes a likeable Mark, matched well with Friend’s junkie rocker, putting a raw voice to good use. Jones also does well as Collins, absolutely heartbreaking in his ‘I’ll Cover You’ (reprise), and Athena Collins gives confidence and some great vocals as Joanne. Khrime makes for an undeniably sassy Mimi, selling the sexual confidence of the drug-addicted erotic dancer, but could show the underlying vulnerability more, and emote more powerfully during her quieter moments. The standout performance goes to Richardson’s Angel, a wonderful mix of fierceness and fragility accompanied by an enviable fluidity that keeps the audience transfixed and fully on his side throughout the drag queen’s heartbreaking narrative.

That Larson never got to see the impact Rent would have on the world is one of the biggest tragedies within musical theatre, but seeing the show’s legacy enduring 30 years later is still a powerful and humbling experience. One of the most “human” musicals, totally character-driven and a celebration of diversity and equality, Rent is essential viewing for any musical lover, and Landmark has delivered a powerful and affecting production here. Delivering the show’s grit and emotion with conviction, make sure you spend some of this year’s 525,600 minutes watching this show, and I really hope it goes on to have a further life.

Rob Bartley