Rent/Malvern Theatres

IT’S the early 1980s, the setting a desperate squat cum bedsit somewhere in New York City.

The dangerously diverted electricity supply sparks from a single unit that hangs off the wall, feeding what few appliances exist, including the electric guitar owned by one of the grubby apartment’s inhabitants.

The whole joint oozes squalor. You can taste it.

This is the depressing setting for Jonathan Larson’s bleak musical about a motley crew of artistically-inclined youngsters trying to substitute the future big break for the present heartbreak.

Bruce Guthrie’s strident direction moves this urban folk tale along in breakneck Big Apple time, fast-tracking a talented cast through the various mini dramas and crises that plague their lives.

However, although I don’t necessarily have a problem with two hours of finely choreographed high tension, nevertheless I did find myself yearning for a memorable song.

Yes, just one would do… just as it is with other musicals. To be sure, Take Me or Leave Me is pleasant enough, but it’s only a standard rocker that’s certainly not up there with the greats.

In fact, it was the random Randy Newman-style piano chords linking the various sequences that proved most evocative, conjuring up images of desolation and freezing winter streets.

Nevertheless, Guthrie’s terrific team move it all along with style and panache. Roger Davis (Ross Hunter) plays his heart out like all boy guitar minstrels should do in order to win the heart of punk princess Mimi Marquez (Phillipa Stefani), who becomes a modern-day Juliet to his Romeo in an angst-drenched performance.

And wow, then there’s Layton Williams as transvestite Angel Schunard. What with all the flouncing, pouting, gymnastics, and much generally walking on the wild side, this brilliant young actor must surely be destined for great things.

Rent runs until Saturday (November 26) and is definitely worth checking out.

John Phillpott