Rent theatre review (UK Tour): Mooooo-Hooooo – Who knew Rent was so Rocking Good!!
Rent theatre review – New Victoria Theatre, Woking, March 2017.
Rent theatre review
The story is a twist on Puccini’s La Boheme, produced in the 90s by Jonathan Larson and now celebrating the 20th anniversary of his untimely death with a newly invigorated production. This looks like it could well be another highly acclaimed run of the Broadway musical.
Two creative artists, songwriter Ross (Roger Davis) and film maker Billy (Joshua Dever), struggle to survive in a New York apartment with no electricity and an illegal wood burning stove for warmth. Having missed several of their rent payments it seems increasingly likely the pair are going to be kicked out, the only reprieve is to help their ambitious landlord Benjamin Cofton III (Javar La Trail Parker) to push through plans for a new virtual reality arts facility and persuade Joanne (Jenny O’Leary) to call off her protest to stop the old performance centre from being demolished.
Rent theatre review
The story is a roller coaster of love won and lost, against the backdrop of drug use and the affliction of the AIDS virus. The love that is ignited between neighbours Ross and erotic dancer Mimi (Philippa Stefani) over matches and a candle, seems to be doomed from the start, but is revived when Mimi recovers from her addiction, a brief moment of hope. There is no such hope for Angel and Tom (Ryan O’ Gorman), the AIDS virus leaving a deep tear through the entire cast when Angel dies.
There is so much life and emotion throughout this performance, every part of the stage filled with the buzz of the street. You can almost smell the stench of the vagrants and the sickly sweet smell of cannabis and candles. From down and outs to druggies, musicians to performance artists, this performance has it all, there is little wonder it has created such a strong cult following.
The power of the female singers, particularly Ella O’Grady and Lucie Jones was awesome, every high note and solo was cheered by the enthusiastic crowd. Philippa Stefani had the audience applauding and reaching for the Kleenex during the scene when she runs out on Ross to live on the street. Ryan O’Gorman showed fantastic range from a deep baritone to powerful tenor. It seemed that everyone in the performance raised their game to match the quality across the boards.
Rent theatre review
It would be unfair to call out a single stand out performance, even though the story starts with the two flatmates, the other characters in the plot have such strong parts and equally powerful performances that you struggle to choose a favourite. The audience lapped up the performance of Angel (Layton Williams) who high kicked and somersaulted onto the stage with a powerful acrobatic star performance. However, my favourite scene was the performance artiste Maureen (Lucie Jones) who captivated the audience with a surreal protest before launching into the over the moon song with that out-of-this-world dress.
If you are open to having your heart strings yanked out of your chest, while humming along to a great rock soundtrack, and love to feel part of the performance then go and see Rent. You will not be disappointed, the unanimous standing ovation was totally justified.
Rent theatre review by Katey Thompson, March 2017.
Rent plays at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking until Saturday 11th March before continuing on its UK tour.
