Interview: Evita Khrime and Cameron Bernard Jones, RENT

Last seen on stage at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, Jonathan Larson’s smash-hit rock musical once again takes to the stage at the recently refurbished New Theatre, Peterborough. RENT follows a group of young artists living in Manhattan’s East Village as they navigate love, loss, and the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS. Loosely based on Puccini’s opera, La Boheme - RENT is undoubtedly one of the greatest musicals of our time. Ahead of its opening we spoke with Evita Khrime and Cameron Bernard Jones about this thrilling production.

RENT is a well-known musical, can you remember the first time you discovered it?

Cameron: I can’t remember which came first. Either I heard the original Broadway cast recording, or I saw the film. This was way back but I definitely remember listening to them for the first time.

Evita: Growing up I heard ‘Seasons of Love’ like the staple songs from the show in a musical theatre class here and there. But being from Cyprus, RENT wasn’t a big staple, unfortunately. When I came to the UK, that really opened my eyes to more musical theatre and RENT has grown on me since and it’s even better now I get to be in the production.

Not only is RENT well-known but it has been staged quite a lot of times over the years which can make it tricky to make it unique, whilst maintaining its loyalty to Jonathan Larson’s work. So what do you think makes this production in Peterborough different?

Evita: We are still discovering what that is in the process but I think the feeling I’ve got from the creative team, and what we as actors have done in the rehearsal room is based on realism. Like, in all departments, whether that be acting, dancing, singing, they want it to be so authentic, and so real. Because we've seen and heard this show done in so many productions. And I feel like us as a collective we know what this is show is about, we how it flows but it’s about squeezing out what’s fresh and real to us.

Cameron: The creative team is doing such a good job at working together because RENT is a sung through show and there's barely any dialogue in it. So the choreographer is very much involved. So it's the MD as well as the director. So it's all they're doing such a great job at, like, making things set. Like there's choreo to a song that you have to follow, but it is naturalistic, and it's very much it doesn't look like I've been told to go here until to go there. That's what I love about the process because they let you do it and do it more and do what feels right to us so that it doesn't look staged. And they take parts of us as well.

This is a show that comes with an emotional punch too with a lot of tough topics covered and it’s a show that follows a group of friends who don’t go on a linear journey. How are you dealing with your own stories and developing them?

Evita: It helps that we we spend a lot of the day together so that we can build our relationships and you know, it happens naturally. Like the more we spend time together, the more we realise we can bring this into this and this into that. And I'm specifically talking about Roger and me. It’s so it doesn't feel weird doing it. I feel like that’s how it works in the rehearsal room as well with the three sets of partners in this show and it’s interesting to see how different each relationship is.

Cameron: The difference between Collins and Angel to Mimi and Roger is they’re like night and day. We’re all friends. It’s a friendship group and so we have our individual events and our individual couple feelings and then there’s the community at large, there are three different levels to work with. I’m part of the lovey-dovey couple, essentially, to keep it simple. It’d be very easy to be wrapped up in only that. I personally as Cameron always remind myself that there’s more depth in our relationship and I’m always reminded of that when I watch the other couples play out. I do think it really helps balance all of the storylines out whether we’re the fighting couple or not.

So moving onto your characters, can you tell us a little bit about them..

Evita: Mimi is the youngest of the group at 19. She’s very stubborn and doesn’t take no for an answer. She’ll do what she wants, she’ll live her life to the fullest and it has been the hardest part, I think, the physicality I need to bring to my character. There’s so many layers to her though, she’s struggling with HIV, but she’s also battling with addiction. And there are moments where withdrawl might impact the movement I do on stage. That has been tricky to portray on stage.

Cameron: I think it’s easy to play Collins as he’s the lovey-dovey one, he’s the rock. I have to remind myself that he, too is an anarchist and he’s against systems and the establishment. So as a hammer in the actor, I have to balance the two, you know, I have first the the professor first the anarchist, the vagabond, just flitting about floating about wherever. And then it's almost as if all of that is disrupted by love by Angel. And it's always something when the back of my head that I am both of those things. And I think you see that in the moments where our system of a friendship group suddenly gets disrupted. And then you know, when we're there, we're there when one of our friends dies. suddenly everyone's fighting and I'm like, this is not how it's supposed to be, you know, and I almost feel like Collins has to always set things back in order. Which is odd because it just, again, like, doesn't have a home like he's in everybody else's home. So it's very interesting. On, but there's always, there's always love and there's always foundation at the core wedding for is the opposite of you. It's literally all over the place.

Cameron: Both of our characters are struggling with HIV, I believe Collins has a marijuana problem but it’s not spoken about in this. It doesn’t have the same stigma as drug addiction in this.

Evita: I definitely think Mimi has been through some kind of abuse that has resorted to this lifestyle to numb everything out. There’s this moment in the show that just before ‘Without You’ where we’ve added a bit of violence into the mix, so you’ll see a different side to her.

RENT is a musical that is still relevant for audiences now. Do you agree with that statement and how it is relevant in your eyes?

Cameron: All across the board. While I can say the stigma of HIV and AIDS has changed is not disappeared. That's one layer, let's put that to the side. People are still battling drug addiction. It might be different drugs but it's still a huge problem. And I don't think it depends on what country you're in and the government.

Evita: Also the cost of living crisis. The show could be set today when it talks about how am I going to pay my rent? That’s my question every day and I feel like a lot of people, especially performers will be able to relate to that.

For people who haven’t seen RENT - how would you describe it to them?

Cameron: RENT is in your face.

Evita: Unapologetic.

Cameron: Europhic. Heartbreaking. Necessary. Nostalgic and hopeful.

Evita: Besides the darkness.

This musical is also packed with a lot of great songs. Do you have a favourite and why?

Cameron: I guarantee if you looked at my music streaming analytics my most played song is “Another Day”. I love that song because of how rock it is.

Evita: It’s grown on me. That song is kind of triggering to me because that was the number I was meant to sing for my third-year showcase and it has trauma attached to it but now it’s grown on me again. I’m just really happy that I can forget about the past. I have a few favourite songs, I’m not going to say “I’ll Cover You Reprise” because it’s just too sad so I’m gonna say “I’ll Cover You”.

Evita: It’s just so beautiful. The lyrics ‘I think they meant it when they said you can't buy love now I know you can rent it’ It’s one of the first times we hear the title of the musical in a song.

Cameron: It’s a tough one to sing but it comes from a place of authenticity and humanity.

Finally, why should people come and see RENT?

Cameron: I mean, every time RENT happens you should book a ticket, to be honest. It’s one of those pieces of theatre that is timeless and classic. As I said, it’s so necessary to see and witness. It reminds us of the reality of the past because it happened. I think it’s what Angel says you don’t know where you came from, you might not know where you’re going.

Evita: I definitely think RENT is one of the shows that is thought-provoking out there. It wakes you up, slaps you in the face and goes, think about this. And that's what you need to feel like, I'm just so shocked that it's not been in the West End yet. It’s life changing.

Catch Cameron and Evita in RENT at New Theatre Peterborough from 20-29 June.