RENT

RENT  

by Jonathan Larson　

(The audience enters in the theatre to discover a stage bare of curtains.

At stage left looms a metal sculpture intended to represent: [a] a totem

pole/Christmas tree that stands in an abandoned lot, [b] a wood burning

stove with a snaky chimney that is at the center of MARK and ROGER's

loft apartment, and [c] in Act II, a church steeple. On stage the

five-musician band performs under a wooden platform surrounded by

railing. The wooden platform has a staircase on the upstage side.

Downstage left is a black, waist-high rail fence. Once the audience is in

the theatre, CREW and BAND MEMBERS move about informally

onstage in preparation for Act I).

ROGER DAVIS, carrying an electric guitar, enters upstage left and

crosses to a guitar amp sitting on a chair at center stage. He casually

plugs his guitar into the amp and adjusts levels, then crosses downstage

and sits on the table.

After a few chords, the COMPANY, led by MARK COHEN, enters from

all directions and fills the stage. MARK sets up a small tripod and a

16mm movie camera downstage center, aimed upstage. He addresses the

audience.)

"INTRO"

MARK

We begin on Christmas Eve with me, Mark, and my roommate, Roger. We

live in an industrial loft on the corner of 11th street and Avenue B, the top

floor of what was once a music publishing factory. Old rock 'n' roll posters

hang on the walls. They have Roger's picture advertising gigs at CBGB's and

the Pyramid Club. We have an illegal wood burning stove; its exhaust pipe

crawls up to a skylight. All of our electrical appliances are plugged into one

thick extension cord which snakes its way out a window. Outside, a small tent

city has sprung up in the lot next to our building. Inside, we are freezing

because we have no heat.

(He turns the camera to ROGER)

Smile!

"TUNE UP #1"

MARK

December 24th, Nine PM

Eastern Standard Time

From here on in

I shoot without a script

See if anything comes of it

Instead of my old shit

First shot -- Roger

Tuning the Fender guitar

He hasn't played in a year

ROGER

This won't tune

MARK

So we hear

He's just coming back

From half a year of withdrawal

ROGER

Are you talking to me?

MARK

Not at all

Are you ready? Hold that focus -- steady

Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger ...

ROGER

I'm writing one great song --

MARK

The phone rings.

ROGER

Saved!

MARK

We screen

Zoom in on the answering machine!

(An actor places a telephone on a chair and we see MARK'S MOM in a

special light.)

"VOICE MAIL #1"

ROGER & MARK'S OUTGOING MESSAGE

"Speak" ... ("Beeeep!")

MOM

That was a very loud beep

I don't even know if this is working

Mark -- Mark -- are you there

Are you screening your calls --

It's mom

We wanted to call and say we love you

And we'll miss you tomorrow

Cindy and the kids are here -- send their love

Oh, I hope you like the hot plate

Just don't leave it on, dear

When you leave the house

Oh, and Mark

We're sorry to hear that Maureen dumped you

I say c'est la vie

So let her be a lesbian...

There are other fishies in the sea

... Love Mom!

(Lights fade on MOM and answering machine.)

"TUNE UP #2"

MARK

Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger

ROGER

I'm writing one great song

MARK

The phone rings

ROGER

Yesss!

MARK

We screen

ROGER & MARK'S ANSWERING MACHINE

"Speak" ... ("Beeeep!")

(Lights fade up on the street: the front-door area of MARK and ROGER's

building. Nearby is a battered public pay phone. TOM COLLINS stands

at the phone.)

COLLINS

"Chestnuts roasting -"

ROGER & MARK

(as MARK picks up the phone)

Collins!

COLLINS

I'm downstairs

MARK

Hey!

COLLINS

Roger picked up the phone?

MARK

No, it's me

COLLINS

Throw down the key

(MARK pulls out a small leather pouch and drops it off the apron

downstage center as if from a window; a weighted leather pouch plops

down from "upstairs." COLLINS catches it.)

MARK

A wild night is now pre-ordained

(Two THUGS appear from above, with clubs. They are obviously close to

attacking COLLINS, who says back into the phone...)

COLLINS

I may be detained

(THUGS mime beating and kicking COLLINS, who falls to the ground as

lights on him fade)

MARK

What does he mean...?

(Phone rings again)

What do you mean "detained"?

(Lights come up on BENNY, who's on a cellular phone.)

BENNY

Ho ho ho

MARK & ROGER

Benny! Shit

BENNY

Dudes, I'm on my way

MARK & ROGER

Great! Fuck

BENNY

I need the rent

MARK

What rent?

BENNY

This past year's rent which I let slide

MARK

Let slide? You said we were 'golden'

ROGER

When you bought the building

MARK

When we were roommates

ROGER

Remember - you lived here!?

BENNY

How could I forget?

You, me, Collins and Maureen

How is the drama queen?

MARK

She's performing tonight

BENNY

I know

Still her production manager?

MARK

Two days ago I was bumped

BENNY

You still dating her?

MARK

Last month I was dumped

ROGER

She's in love

BENNY

She's got a new man?

MARK

Well -- no

BENNY

What's his name?

BOTH

Joanne

BENNY

Rent, my amigos, is due

Or I will have to evict you

Be there in a few

(ROGER defiantly picks out Musetta's theme from Puccini's La Boheme

on the electric guitar. The fuse blows on the amp)

MARK

The power blows

"RENT"

(The COMPANY bursts into a flurry of movemen. Then everyone except

MARK and ROGER freezes in a group upstage)

MARK

How do you document real life

When real life is getting more

Like fiction each day

Headlines -- bread-lines

Blow my mind

And now this deadline

"Eviction -- or pay"

Rent!

ROGER

How do you write a song

When the chords sound wrong

Though they once sounded right and rare

When the notes are sour

Where is the power

You once had to ignite the air

MARK

And we're hungry and frozen

ROGER

Some life that we've chosen

TOGETHER

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

Last year's rent

MARK

We light candles

ROGER

How do you start a fire

When there's nothing to burn

And it feels like something's stuck in your flue

MARK

How can you generate heat

When you can't feel your feet

BOTH

And they're turning blue!

MARK

You light up a mean blaze

(ROGER grabs one of his own posters)

ROGER

With posters-

(MARK grabs old manuscripts)

MARK

And screenplays

ROGER & MARK

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

Last year's rent

(Lights go down on the loft and go up on JOANNE JEFFERSON, who's

at the pay phone)

JOANNE

(On phone)

Don't screen, Maureen

It's me -- Joanne

Your substitute production manager

Hey hey hey! (Did you eat?)

Don't change the subject Maureen

But darling -- you haven't eaten all day

You won't throw up

You won't throw up

The digital delay ---

Didn't blow up (exactly)

There may have been one teeny tiny spark

You're not calling Mark

COLLINS

How do you stay on your feet

When on every street

It's 'trick or treat'

(And tonight it's 'trick')

'Welcome back to town'

Oh, I should lie down

Everything's brown

And uh -- oh

I feel sick

MARK

(At the window)

Where is he?

COLLINS

Getting dizzy

(He collapses.)

MARK & ROGER

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

Last year's rent

(MARK and ROGER stoke the fire. Crosscut to BENNY's Range Rover)

BENNY

(On cellular phone)

Alison baby -- you sound sad

I don't believe those two after everything I've done

Ever since our wedding I'm dirt -- They'll see

I can help them all out in the long run

(Three locales: JOANNE at the pay phone, MARK and ROGER in their

loft, and COLLINS on the ground. The following is sung simultaneously)

BENNY

Forces are gathering

Forces are gathering

Can't turn away

Forces are gathering

COLLINS

Ughhhhh--

Ughhhhh--

Ughhhhh-- I can't think

Ughhhhh--

Ughhhhh--

Ughhhhh-- I need a drink

MARK (reading from a script page)

"The music ignites the night with passionate fire"

JOANNE

Maureen -- I'm not a theatre person

ROGER

"The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit"

JOANNE

Could never be a theatre person

MARK

Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground

JOANNE (realizing she's been cut off)

Hello?

MARK & ROGER

And feel the heat of the future's glow

JOANNE

Hello?

(The phone rings in the loft. MARK picks it up)

MARK

(On phone)

Hello? Maureen?

--Your equipment won't work?

Okay, all right, I'll go!

MARK & HALF THE COMPANY

How do you leave the past behind

When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart

It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out

Till you're torn apart

Rent!

ROGER & OTHER HALF OF COMPANY

How can you connect in an age

Where strangers, landlords, lovers

Your own blood cells betray

ALL

What binds the fabric together

When the raging, shifting winds of change

Keep ripping away

BENNY

Draw a line in the sand

And then make a stand

ROGER

Use your camera to spar