The creator of RENT, Jonathan Larson, saw parallels between Puccini’s group of struggling artists surrounded by a Typhoid epidemic in La Boheme in his own 1990’s New York home, gripped by AIDS. It’s not a huge leap to see the relevance that this already iconic piece of musical theatre has in today’s Covid-19 Britain, in which the arts sector has been brought to its knees and the livelihoods of the creative community are under imminent threat.
Hope Mill’s Artistic and executive directors Joseph Houston and William Whelton had planned this revival to open in early summer, and following the theatre’s closure due to the pandemic they have now finally and boldly brought it to the stage, employing some 60 freelancers in its making. Their social media tagline for RENT has become #MeasureInLove, a line taken from the show’s iconic Act II opening number, but it would be next to impossible to measure the love that has gone into and flows out of this production.
In the circumstances it might have been understandable if the show had been overcome by an air of self pity, but this team are far better than that. What we get here is a sense of fight, energy, defiance and ballsy determination, fuelled and subsumed entirely by love.
David Woodhead has stripped the theatre’s stage back to its shell to create his downtown New York setting – all graffiti, neon and bare brick. The work demands intimacy, with the entire cast visible onstage throughout, and Hope Mill’s stage is perfect for the job, bringing the ensemble of 12 actors together into the white-heat of a crucible. And what an ensemble it is. They have worked together in a bio-bubble throughout rehearsals to the point where Tom Jackson Greaves’ incredibly detailed but seemingly effortless choreography makes them behave like a single organism.
There are 12 finely crafted performances onstage here and, while many of them could easily steal the show, their generosity as a team never lets this happen. Each one delivers crack-shot vocals, with every word of every line of the sung-through text crystal clear and delivered with absolute conviction. Director Luke Shepherd maintains a balance of emotional power throughout that holds the audience completely in its spell.
As we have come to expect from Hope Mill, balance of sound between the actors and the onstage band, under the musical direction of Chris Poon, is judged to perfection; powerful enough to deliver its punch but never overwhelming itself.
As the lights cut to black at the end of the closing number the press night audience are already on their feet, and deservedly so. This is by far the most compelling production of RENT that this reviewer has ever seen. Drawing every ounce of emotion from the work, it speaks simultaneously of its own time and of ours, and is as close to perfect as you could wish for.
It is a story filled with tragedy, but the cruellest tragedy here is that the official opening night should become its closing night also. This cast and crew deserved a kinder fate.
Whilst the onstage production has been closed under the government’s new national lockdown order it was filmed for online streaming, and a limited number of tickets can be obtained to watch it at:
https://hopemilltheatre.co.uk/events/rent-online
This revival of RENT is produced Hope Mill Theatre by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited.
Star Rating: Five stars
This review was originally written for and published by Musical Theatre Review
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| Blake Patrick Anderson and the Company of RENT - Photo © Pamela Raith |
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