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Rent
Malvern Theatres
*** THIS highly acclaimed musical depicts a
youthful generation of desperately alienated characters who seek meaning
and fulfilment in music, in all kinds of sensuality, in drugs and in
excess. They are impoverished, creative and artistic,
sensitive and hungry for love. They are cornered by the lack of money to
pay the rent – ‘How are we going to pay?’ they angrily sing - they have
no sense that the future or the past have any meaning or value, so they
are existentialists, pursuing significance in the present moment and
hoping its passing pleasures will in fact be lasting ones. The image of the shopping trolleys whirling
around, entangling and crashing into each other is a powerful metaphor
for the world these young people inhabit. ‘Will someone care? Will I
wake tomorrow from this nightmare?’ The musical starts with Mark who shares a flat
with Roger and who captures all that is happening around him with his
movie camera. Roger is grieving the loss of his girl and initially
rebuffs the flirtatious and sexy advances of nineteen-year-old Mimi
Marquez, but not for long. It becomes the central relationship in the
musical, closely followed by that of Tom and Angel. The latter, a drag queen, becomes a victim of
AIDS, Mimi nearly dies of drug abuse and there is great deal of sadness,
fragmentation and anger. Eventually we get the sense that the humanity of
this collection of lost souls, the comfort they provide each other in
their shared lostness and alienation, is something that provides them
with some redeeming hope. The music is loud, often angry and shrill. The
set depicts a depressing environment: the tenement blocks lack
architectural charm and grace, the flats are shabby and messy. The
lighting is dynamic and contributes to the vigour and energy of the
show. It is a very effective set design well complemented by the
lighting effects. The scenes where Angel dies in hospital and Mimi
is apparently dying in Roger’s arms are very poignant, helped in that by
the quieter and more sensitive moments in the music. The performances are likewise very graphic and
effective, shocking and angry. Billy Cullum, as Mark Cohen acts as a
narrator and has a softening and appeasing influence on his companions
and us as the audience. All the cast deliver strong and convincing
characterisations, particularly Philippa Stefani (as Mimi) and Layton
Williams (as Angel). The brief depiction of the parents of these young
bohemians provide flashing and rare moments of humour. With their
one-way phone calls, they are beginning to despair of ever getting news
of their offspring and how they are faring. The bohemian culture, La Vie
Bohème in which they are caught up, provides fleeting relief from the
philosophical despair and the sense of their transience. Eventually
their sense of time is not measured in minutes, hours, weeks or months,
but in the ‘seasons of love’ through which they pass and in which they
cling to each other for support. This is eventually a powerful but depressing
show; the first act is short of plot and development, but the second
becomes more dramatic and effective in exploring these themes of
despair, fragmentation and loss. To 26-11-16 Timothy Crow 22-11-16
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