The Broadway, Catford, is currently host to a back-to-basics revival of Rent with an acoustic and improvisational-sounding score. Kerry Ann Eustive gives her verdict on this simple and raw production

Returning Rent to its original home — a small and intimate stage — director Thom Southerland’s version of the rock opera is a simple affair. Ditching the set and spectacle the musical has gathered over the years in big theatres, this revival is pared down with stripped scaffolding, stark lighting and very little else on stage.

Musical director Alex Weatherhill’s arrangements echo the sparse visuals. Although far from note- perfect all the time, the live acoustic music (it’s great to see musicians sharing the spotlight with the players) has an improvisational and avant garde vibe while still retaining plenty of toe-tapping melody.

Rent’s NY bohemians — filmmaker Mark, musician Roger, nightclub dancer Mimi (played sweet and vulnerable by understudy Kelle Marie Walters), performance artist Maureen (a feisty Jessica Cotton) and drag queen Angel (an impressively flexible Tom Idelson) — would certainly approve.

While rejecting the raging capitalism of turn-of-the-century America, in spite of an AIDS epidemic and emotional baggage, these friends — a group as vibrant and eccentric as their gaudy fashions — lead spirited lives and romances.

News Shopper: Theatre review: Rent, The Broadway, Catford ***

Unpaid rent means the lights are often cut but electricity isn’t just missing from their apartments — connections between the many couples are weak too.

But the leading players do a good job with one of the finest songbooks in modern musicals. It’s a shame though vocals are sometimes drowned out by the acoustic approach and often overshadowed by jaw-dropping ensemble voices in the group numbers.

Perhaps this is why these pieces are the most powerful, soaring and entertaining, with the exception of a sweet rendition of Light My Candle and I’ll Cover You (belted out by the excellent Jacob Chapman).

Southerland’s Rent is soulful and interesting in its simplicity but it could be grittier and fans will miss the crowd-pleasing spectacle and slick choreography which made his previous musicals so special.

Rent runs at The Broadway, Catford, until May 17. Box office 020 8690 0002.