Rent

Rent’ is one of those bewilderingly popular shows among show folk and always excites a good deal of enthusiasm from performers who clamour to be involved in a production and for musical theatre fans to book their tickets early when a production is in the offing. The show’s peculiar magic has never rubbed off on me unfortunately - it’s always struck me as being a rather tawdry and pointless re-vamp of ‘La Boheme’ for people who prefer shouting and noise to singing and music - and I don’t understand its appeal at all: however, each to their own as they say! This was certainly a well mounted and thoughtful production which seemed to please both those on stage - who were clearly enjoying themselves and throwing themselves into the proceedings - and a large and appreciative audience. I did think that there were a few really quite problematic barriers that got in the way of the show being a complete success but there’s no denying that this was a production with real spirit and with a passionate cast who really threw themselves into the evening wholeheartedly.

The show’s opening throws us straight into the bohemian milieu of New York represented by some excellent scenery and a stage soon to be teeming with life and energy - and immediately introduces us to two of the main protagonists, Mark and Roger as played by Blue Blezard and Gary Leonard. Blue’s performance worked well initially - I could see him as the left-field filmmaker in the early stages of the show - but his propensity for stagey St Vitus dance rather got in the way of the characterisation as the show wore on. Gary Leonard was a very believable Roger and really brought the character to life in a meaningful way. The arrival of Ben Fontaine as Tom Collins on stage was a definite boon: here is a young performer with a very bright future ahead of him. I’ve seen Ben mature into a very promising artiste over the years and his was very much the standout performance of the evening in what was a uniformly excellent portrayal of Tom Collins: clear diction and a smooth, clear singing voice completing the picture. I was less sure about Alex Pemberton’s Angel however: a flinty brittleness seemed to replace sassy camp and I felt this character could have been a little more sympathetically portrayed and given a little more confidence and depth of portrayal. That said, Alex really threw himself into his song and dance routines and by the time we reached Act Two, the audience was fully in sympathy with Angel’s plight and the effect that this had on the rest of the cast of characters. 

Rapacious landlord Ben Coffin was very well played by Sam Crabtree - another of the Hippodrome’s band of reliably excellent performers - and the trio of female principal roles were also very well served by Jess McGlinchey, Alice Butterfield and Cathryn Osborne as Maureen, Mimi and Joanne. The ladies in particular gave a very good account of themselves throughout the show and again, stood out from the crowd. Maureen’s ‘Over the Moon’ was a particular favourite of mine, Mimi was particularly strong in all her numbers and Joanne gave a similarly strong vocal presence with her every appearance. It was also heartening to see a number of smaller cameo roles being given a very polished and professional portrayal: David Hulme excelled in a number of smaller roles; David Smith stood out in his various appearances on stage, as did Laura Schofield and Jill Harrison. With a supporting cast of such talent and a very strong principal line-up, there was no denying the talent on display on stage. This was a very well staged production and benefitted from some excellent touches throughout both acts. Director Josh Hindle had clearly thrown himself body and soul into the production too and inspired both cast and crew into giving their very best to the project which was obviously very much a labour of love. And yet...

...something about the end result didn’t quite work for me. Having thought long and hard about it, the big issue for me came with deciphering what was going on on stage at any given moment, working out exactly what the relationship between the various characters was and that any sense of narrative drive was completely lost on me: hearing what was going on; audibility; diction; sound; all played a part in muddying the waters of precisely what was happening, to whom and why. I did think there was a certain amount of taking for granted that everyone would be as fully up to speed on the events of ‘Rent’ as the fans on stage (and in the audience) would no doubt be. For me, this was a very serious blow: a very serious blow indeed. Without a clear narrative thrust, an understanding of the relationship between the different characters or an effective exposition of the thematic undercurrents of the piece, it was hard for the untutored audience member to walk away with anything other than to have had an evening where various effective looking set pieces were paraded before our eyes, one after the other. In the final analysis, it’s hard not to reach for a crude paraphrasing of Shakespeare as a fitting description: was this really just an evening full of sound and fury, signifying nothing? If that sounds a little harsh, I can only offer up the defence that if indeed this is a piece of musical theatre which has much to say on a great many weighty and hard hitting issues, it’s voice was stifled to the point of incomprehension. 

There are many positive things to say about this production - to add to the many good things already mentioned - and which helped to make the evening an enjoyable one for the vast majority of the audience however. ‘Light My Candle’ and ‘Without You’ were affecting and impressive numbers in the hands of Alice and Gary; ‘Santa Fe’ was very well performed indeed; ‘Seasons of Love’ was really very well done and provided a musical - and emotional highlight - of the evening; ‘I’ll Cover You’ was another high point - in both its visitations on stage - and there were a number of other musical highlights to savour too. Alas, picking the real gems from the paste in the musical mixture often proved tricky due to the problems of audibility and comprehension but in every other respect, this was a technically accomplished production which had obviously been put together with care and attention. Some very accomplished lighting effects added much to the look of the piece; set design was of a very high standard; musical direction in the capable hands of Jack Herbert had clearly inspired the band to great heights too. There were a number of effective and interesting scenes peppered throughout the evening and it was clear that there was real passion emanating from the stage.

This was a show where the enthusiasm of everyone involved really shone through the fog of the sound problems which caused more than just a few issues for me. It was clear that the talent on stage (and off) had embraced the project wholeheartedly and with enthusiasm and it was great to see so many excellent performers on stage at the same time, really throwing themselves into this interesting and challenging piece of musical theatre. As always, my thanks go to everyone at the Hippodrome for another interesting evening at the theatre and for the very warm welcome which always comes with a trip to Colne: long may you all continue to flourish.

 

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