'RENT' review — the legendary musical packs a punch in this propulsive revival

Read our review of Jonathan Larson's RENT, now in performances at the Tom Stoppard Theatre to 29 May 2027.

Summary

• RENT returns to the West End in a 30th-anniversary revival
• Luke Sheppard directs an electrifying production of Jonathan Larson's musical
• Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo is a genial guide as filmmaker Mark
• Billy Nevers and Jeevan Braich are remarkable as Collins and Angel

How do you measure, measure 30 years? RENT stormed into the 1990s and remains a landmark piece of musical theatre, a north star for subsequent artists like Lin-Manuel Miranda. This anniversary revival could just look back fondly – but, under Luke Sheppard’s electrifying direction, it instead packs an almighty punch. It honours the soul of the original, while making it feel thrillingly fresh.

Jonathan Larson, whose tragic death just before opening added to the RENT legend, remains an inimitable voice. The notion of featuring both contemporary life and music – alt-rock and pop-punk – was then utterly revolutionary, and, in Sheppard’s propulsive production (originally seen in Manchester), you get a strong sense of that blood-pumping, pulse-racing excitement. Adding some onstage audience seating supports a semi-in-the-round staging that lends immediacy to the experience.

Although there’s one star name among the high-energy cast – Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things – this is fundamentally an ensemble piece, and it works beautifully as such. The show follows a penniless group of bohemians in New York’s East Village whose stories intertwine as they navigate love, friendship, art, and mortality. Multiple characters are HIV-positive, and AIDS stalks the show. Yet hardships are balanced by an irrepressible joy, sense of community, and belief in a better world.

Matarazzo is a genial guide as wannabe documentary filmmaker Mark, and particularly funny when paired with Joanne, the new partner of his high-maintenance ex (their “Tango: Maureen” features great physicality from both him and the excellent Danielle Fiamanya). Strong too are Travis Ross as angsty musician Roger, Alexa Lopez as his desperate drug-addict girlfriend Mimi, and Lazy Violet as self-absorbed performance artist Maureen.

The standouts for me, though, both vocally and dramatically, are Billy Nevers as kindly professor Collins and Jeevan Braich as the exuberant drag queen, Angel, who steals his heart. Their romantic duet “I’ll Cover You” is a shiver-inducing cascade of riffs, and Nevers powers the show’s darker second half with his devastating reprise.

Throughout the actors sit in a circle on folding chairs, watching the action – a visual echo of the HIV support group that Collins and Angel attend. Tom Jackson Greaves’s expressive, street-style choreography often begins with these seated performers and builds to a rousing crescendo. Equally effective is the more lyrical Act II set-piece illustrating Angel’s growing sickness.

David Woodhead’s stark design features huge loft apartment windows, dynamically lit by Howard Hudson. Mark’s filmmaking is projected onto numerous TVs, one of many elements that feels resonant: we all now live our lives through cameras and screens, and struggle to distinguish between reality and virtual reality (as predicted in Maureen’s political activist performance).

Younger theatregoers will likely also relate to RENT’s furious broadsides at greedy corporations, homelessness and the high cost of living, and the challenge of pursuing art. But just as fun are the retro touches, like the landline answerphones (with nagging mums leaving constant voicemails), and Gabriella Slade’s perfectly grungy 90s costumes are bang on trend.

It’s not the most subtle show (yuppie Benny is a boo-hiss capitalist villain), but its passion is undeniable, especially the oft-cited line “No day but today”, which is both wrenchingly sad and a call to action. As Mark puts it: “The opposite of war isn’t peace – it’s creation”. RENT is a soul-stirring act of creation, and so too is this exhilarating revival.

RENT is at the Tom Stoppard Theatre to 29 May 2027. Book RENT tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: RENT (Photos by Pamela Raith Photography, Danny Kaan)