There are around 525,500 things that could be said about Rent at the ADC but to sum it up; it was brilliant.  Jonathan Larson’s Rent was originally seen off Broadway in 1996 and aimed as a song for the suffering youth of New York’s Lower East Side, holding as its base Puccini’s opera La Bohème.  Rent tells the story Roger (Guy Woolf) a musical “wannabe” and his friend Mark (Rory Stallibrass), an aspiring movie-maker, who had recently been left by his now lesbian ex-girlfriend Maureen (Victoria Rigby).   While grieving for his recently dead girlfriend April, Roger encounters Mimi (Emma Walton), a show dancing, HIV positive heroin addict and falls in love.  The story takes off from here, and leads the audience through a world where AIDS is commonplace, affecting every part of life and shows how it impacts on the lives of the youth in New York.

Reading the programme in the ADC bar a creeping fear came over me, having just read that one of the leads was acting in “his first lead role in a musical”.  Rent is a huge task to take on for any theatre company and for a group who have had so little time to rehearse it’s an even bigger work load.  However these fears were dispelled as soon as Guy Woolf and Rory Stallibrass stepped onto the stage, shortening the audience’s breath with the dazzling lengthening of their own .  There were some show-stopping performances, namely of the two playing the protagonists (both proving to be capable rock singers).  Also of particular note were Emma Walton’s skill in balancing her operatic voice with the pop style required, Marie Buda (Joanne) displaying some skill in her tango scene and Nkoko Sekete (Angel) definitely living up to the programme’s claims that he had “copious amounts of experience”.  The actors were supported by a great tech team and band that vivified much of the show’s content.  The playing was faultless; however the lighting had one or two minor glitches which, though troublesome, in no way detracted from the overall great effects provided by an able tech team.

There were a few minor faults on the part of the cast / crew which should be put down to first night nerves, such as one or two awkward scene changes and a slightly out note here or there.  Frankly though, this kind of criticism would be like pulling at very thin straws.  This performance of Rent did CUMTS proud. For the few of you without tickets – I implore you to buy one of the few that are left.

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