REVIEW: Rent
Spotlites at Merchants Hall, 22 Hanover Street. Edinburgh. EH2 2EP. (Tel: 0131 220 5911)
4 Stars ****
Rent is Jonathan Larson´s groundbreaking reworking of Puccini´s much loved opera, La Boheme.
Set in Lower East Side New York, it portrays a group of impoverished artists and addicts - and lovers - maintaining a precarious existence under the constant shadow of AIDS.
Considering EUSOG (Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group) are a group of students with no professional experience, I was really impressed with their standard of performance. There were no weak links and even the ensemble/chorus remained in character throughout - a feat even some professional companies fail to accomplish.
The real criticisms of the show would have to be in the technical limitations. The venue although beautiful, did not have the natural accoustics necessary to deal with the lack of microphones. Some of the singers were straining to be heard and those with the bigger voices tended to become a bit ´shouty´ to overcompensate. This unbalancing was a unfair on those with smaller yet beautiful voices. The set whilst basic, worked well and the lighting was used effectively.
The band, whilst excellent could also have done with better amplification, as it was difficult to hear them from the other side of the room. The fact that there was a live band should be applauded, they gain an extra star purely because they did not revert to backing tracks which is a bug bear of mine!
All in all, this is an excellent show, well performed although at 1 hour 55 minutes, it is a little long.
Rent is not one of my personal favourites as a show, however, EUSOG´s production is certainly worth a visit, even if the show isn´t your cup of tea.
More info can be found at www.gnsmith.co.uk/rent
Helen Raw - Raw Talent Productions (Writing for Edinburgh247.com)
