Jonathan Larson’s Rent is a masterpiece of 20th century musical theatre. If you’re a newcomer to the show then where you been?! If this is the case, a brief explanation of the story is coming up but not before I tell you that this is the best production of Rent I have seen on stage. Fact.
Full disclosure: I have only seen Rent on stage one other time, many years ago and the Unity Productions version blows this out the park. Even if I had seen 100 versions, this would still be my favourite. So many reasons why, from the staging to the outstanding on-stage performances.
Jonathan Larson has been in the public consciousness again recently with the hugely successful and Oscar nominated Tick, Tick…Boom being released on Netflix earlier this year. This tells the story of before Rent and Larson’s inspiration for creating a musical from his own personal experiences. Write about what you know and all that! What makes the story of Rent even more poignant is that Larson tragically died on the morning of its first Broadway performance. He never got to see his dream become reality.
Rent tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village in the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. We see the characters grow with each other as well as being a shoulder to cry on when life takes a terrible twist (bring tissues!).
This chaotic group is headed up by Mark Cohen (played by the superb Dan Wright). Mark is an amateur film maker capturing all life on his cine camera wherever he goes. As the other characters experience heartache and health issues, Mark stands alone immune from these events even though he recently separated from his ex-girlfriend, Maureen (played by Chloe Turner whose voice makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention!). Maureen is a performance artist who we see protesting against the proposed redevelopment of the East Village to the annoyance of the landlord and former bohemian, Benjamin Coffin III played the rather wonderful Justin Randle).
Mark lives with his flat mate Roger Davis (played by Cy Wooldridge who gave a West End type performance), a former rock star and occasional song writer trying to move on from the toxic life that he endured and that has altered his life forever. Roger meets Mimi (played by the rather wonderful Vicky Addis) who lives in the same apartment block and who comes knocking for a light one day resulting in a love affair that is up and down and which harbours secrets on both sides.
Alongside the flat mates, are the friends they meet along the way. Meet Tom Collins, (played by the vocally talented David Ball) who gets beaten up for being gay at Christmas only to find the love of his life, Angel, a drag queen and street drummer, who sweeps Tom off his feet (played by Joshua Goodwin).
Other notable performances include Kate Cox as Maureen’s short-term suffering girlfriend and Sarah-Danielle Fullwood who had us applauding her unfortunately small singing contribution in the iconic Seasons of Love.
We follow the characters as they face heartache, death and a lot of soul-searching. When you remember that all this goes on with the backdrop of HIV/AIDS as well as homelessness and struggling to get warm, this story could be true in 2022 as it was in 1991 when the story is set.
There are highs and lows that draw us in as an audience and, along with Larson’s incredible score and lyrics, makes this one of the greatest musicals of all time which has been critically acclaimed since it opened on Broadway in 1996.
The staging is stunning and makes great use of the space at Stourbridge Town Hall. The special effects and lighting really give you a real sense of urban living and transport you to 1990’s New York.
Special mention the band under the direction of George Stuart who brought the music to life.
You NEED to see this production. In a world where we see people suffering on our TV’s and outside our front door, Rent highlights just 0.01% of the suffering that all of us face daily. From financial difficulties to health concerns. It is more about the human condition and how we interact with each other and how that interaction can have a positive and negative affect on all of us. In conclusion, life.
Unity Productions performance of Rent is on at Stourbridge Town Hall till Friday 4th March 2022.
