A stripper, a guitarist, a filmmaker, two lesbians, an
anarchist and a drag queen. Although
this sounds like a cross between the start of a terrible Walked Into a Bar joke
and the cast of a very kinky blue movie, it’s actually the recipe for Rent – a
deeply touching story about human survival.
Rent is a well-loved musical that is often billed as a “year in the life
of friends” but this just skims the surface of what the show is about. Set in New York City, Rent centres on Mark and
Roger (who share a freezing loft apartment they can’t pay rent for), their
friends and lovers, and the ripple effects of events that take place on one
Christmas Eve. The story revolves around
the struggle of the main characters as they live with, die from and survive the
HIV virus. Rent is not your cliché
struggling-artists story, but instead is a story of survival and the difference
between living life and waiting for death.
Rent has some pretty big themes and a cult following, as
well as huge musical numbers (it’s almost completely sung-through with very
little spoken dialogue) so for a university club to take on the challenge of
producing it is impressive. Musoc’s Get
It On! season of Rent does not disappoint.
