Theatre Review: RENT remains a timeless look at NYC during the AIDS crisis – The Queens Theatre, Adelaide

Rent is a musical written by Jonathan Larson about a year in the life of a group of artists struggling to survive in New York during the AIDS epidemic. It Is loosely based on Puccini’s opera La Bohème, contrasting the lavish life with the poverty and homelessness of New York. Some hundred years previously, in La Bohème, tuberculosis is rife, in Rent, it’s HIV and AIDS.

The choice of staging the play by producer Matt Ralph and director Benjamin Maio Mackay at Adelaide’s Queens Theatre was the perfect backdrop to the sparse New York loft setting. Being Adelaide’s first theatre, the undeveloped space made the play even more immersive. A three-story construction greets us on stage, with an illegal wood stove and a brick and crate coffee table, some of the few props. Imaginative lighting by Matt Ralph made effective use of the scaffolded stage.

Opening scene in the loft has Mark (Lindsay Prodea) filming everyone and everything on his Super 8 movie camera. Roger, played by director Benjamin Maio Mackay is strumming his guitar on the battered couch. A Christmas message on the answering machine from Roger’s mother, comforts him on his recent breakup with Maureen.

The anachronisms of the time are playfully introduced – payphones, outrageously large and small mobile phones, wild fashions. When Tom Collins (Sampson Wilkop) comes to visit, he has to call from the payphone to get the keys thrown down. However, he’s mugged before he can even get up to the apartment and is picked up by Angel, played by Raul-Xavier Garcia.

Meanwhile their former friend Benjamin (Nicholas Mundy) is now their landlord and starts demanding back rent when he had promised them free rent previously. He even goes so far as to lock them out and cut off the electricity on the coldest part of the year, just before Christmas.

There’s a lot going on. Mimi, played by Tate Simpson, is trying to get Roger to light her candle, literally and figuratively. Against all this is the spectre of AIDS and drug addiction. Relationships are strained and confused; self-identity is lost. Despite the struggles, the will to push on is there. All actors give a strong believable performance.

Meanwhile, Roger’s ex-girlfriend Maureen (Cassandra Haines), has started a relationship with Joanne (Played admirably by stand-in Vashnavi Rajarmanan). Maureen’s avant-garde performances are light-hearted moments.

Layers of insecurity are on display; Mark’s persistent filming of everything around him allows him to avoid looking at his own life, however he “sells-out” to a corporate job, presenting news. Joanne steals Maureen but is then jealous of her promiscuous behaviour. Mimi and Roger have a tumultuous relationship, due largely to Mimi’s drug use.

The relationships are presented in a genuine way. You can see sincere emotion between Angel and Tom Collins. When Angel dies, the whole community come together in mourning. We are reminded of how short a year is, and by extension how short is life. The overwhelming message is to enjoy life now, not to waste it away.

The song numbers were well executed by Musical Director Jesse Budel and his team of five. Occasional off key moments and times when the music overshadowed the singers were odd but short-lived. The sound itself was full and filled the room with gusto.

Overall, this was a slickly executed rendition of RENT that everyone involved in should feel justifiably proud of. Issues that were relevant over 100 years ago, 50 years ago, right now, these universal truths and problems are presented here. A sense of struggle but at the same time a sense of hope.

Keep your eye out for another show by Jonathan Larson in 2023, the South Australian premier of Tick, Tick… BOOM!

   

FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

The season runs until 15th November at The Queens Theatre in Adelaide – Tickets available here.

RENT is advised for ages 15+, it contains sex, sexual references, drug use, violence, strobe, brief nudity & coarse language.

The reviewer attended the performance on 7th October. Photo credit: proshots.com.au.