Rent is a show about mortality haunted by the untimely death of its author, Jonathan Larson. On the eve of the first preview in 1996, he underwent heart surgery but he didn’t survive to see his creation become one of the most enduring hits in musical-theatre history. The producers of Luke Sheppard’s version don’t need reviewers to offer their verdict because the show has a worldwide band of disciples who maintain its bankability. On press night, the loyalists clearly adored what they’d seen.

The script takes the plot of Puccini’s La bohème and transfers it to New York’s East Village in the 1990s where a salon of artistes are facing eviction. Their landlord, Benny, used to be a member of the gang but he joined the capitalists and now he wants a year’s back rent from his old chums. To make matters worse, the Aids epidemic is picking off gay men at random.

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The storyline seems tame rather than provocative these days, and the characters are noticeably well behaved. Mimi, the nightclub stripper, snorts cocaine but her addiction is not emphasised. A street........

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