A pandemic-era miracle: Broadway's angriest, horniest musical performed to empty chairs.
Loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Bohème, Rent features book, music, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre brings a new live production of Rent directly to your home with this streamed performance filmed during the live run.
Acting
Tom Francis's Roger hits rock bottom with devastating vocal control.
Production
Empty audience becomes ghostly character in pandemic filming.
Direction
Sheppard's camera work finally makes Rent feel intimate, not stadium.
Director
Luke Sheppard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Filmed in October 2020 during Manchester's strict lockdown, making this the first major Rent production performed to zero live audience.
Hope Mill Theatre's stripped-down staging removes the Broadway spectacle, forcing Larson's messier themes — gentrification, privilege, who gets to make art — to the foreground.
GB
