[Translate to English:] Foto | Bart van Overbeeke
  • Student , Campus

Screw the rent

‘It’s now about how many years you live, but how you fulfil the time you spend here.’ RENT, a collaboration between student theater association Doppio, Het Nieuwe Theater (the new theater), and Studium Generale, is a musical with a message. The advance showing of the musical was performed yesterday, and visitors were impressed with the the cast (half of which studies at TU/e), especially in the second act. The story revolves around twenty-somethings and their struggles in New York City in the 90s. Screw paying rent; our life is now.

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“We captivate the audience from the very start and don’t let go until it’s over”, Wouter van der Horst, initiator of the project and one of the leads, said prior to the premiere. But the cast definitely needed some time to warm up the sixty visitors. During the song ‘Light my Candle’ where addicted prostitute Mimi (Hannah de Palm), and ex-addict Roger (Jaap Rohof) meet and fall in love, the audience doesn’t feel a real connection with the characters yet.

RENT is performed in the Hogestromenhal, a perfect location for a story situated in a loft and in the streets of the Big Apple. The street is at the front of the ‘stage’ – the audience is sitting on the sidewalk, so to speak – but the loft is high up on the other side of the room. When a little later the entire cast sings ‘Will I’ Van der Horst’s goal is within reach. And the second act, when almost all technical issues have been solved, the show is just great.

RENT will be performed at least seventeen times and runs from 29 November – 22 December. Tickets are €17.50 and are available online.

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