Cast of ‘Rent’ in Manila calls for HIV/AIDS awareness, defiance of stigma

As the Broadway musical “Rent” officially opens in Manila, the entire cast and production team pushes to spread awareness amid the growing epidemic of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and/or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), especially among Filipino youth.

In an interview with GMA News Online, director Robbie Guevara said they not only want to share the story of “Rent,” but to educate the audience as well.

He mentioned that in the past stages of the musical, HIV/AIDS was only a backdrop and impassive, mainly because of the religious and conservative culture where people don’t want to talk about it.

“But now it’s still prevalent, it hasn’t gone away, we really need to put it forward so we will be showing the effects as well as the causes as far as the material allows us,” he said.

Direk Robbie said that in terms of staging, their approach would be “drastically different” from 14 years ago, but he assured that they would not be changing any scenes or rearranging the musical score.

“We’re not adding things that aren’t in the script but we are emphasizing more and bringing out more,” he stressed.

In fact, the whole team even gathered up with various HIV/AIDS advocacy groups to discuss the necessary information about the disease and help them better interpret the story to the audience.

The director revealed that from their first rehearsal, he pointed out to the cast that the roles they would portray were misfits and that they were not good people by circumstance.

“They’re squatters, there’s a hacker, there’s somebody who kills a dog for money, things that today are not really as acceptable as before. We had to tackle those issues and portray them in a way where we want the audience to understand where they are coming from. The situation that made them deal with life the way they are dealing with it,” he said.

Defying the stigma

Adrian Lindayag, who plays the role of Angel Dumott Schunard, expressed how testing positive for HIV shaped him to fight the stigma against the disease.

“It was late 2017 when I was diagnosed as positive for HIV. I was inspired by the story of Angel, who lived a full life even with HIV. That is what I want to embody. Somehow, I feel like I have a second life,” he said during a media conference.  

Meanwhile, Justine Peña, who will be playing the role of Maureen Johnson, also shared sentiments in portraying their role and why the younger generation should watch the musical.

“There is a lot of information out there, and it is actually accessible to the younger generations. There’s so much online, but a lot of it is unfiltered, so I’d like to think that with Rent, we are not necessarily providing the information they can easily get out there. We are providing the reason why it’s important to know these things. That reason is you need to be responsible for the community that you are part of, the family that you have, and to yourself,” Justine said.

Lastly, Markki Stroem, who will play the character Benny, emphasized the importance of sex education in schools as the age prevalence of HIV has gone down to 15 years old.

“We live in a very conservative society so it’s very important if we want to protect ourselves, so we need to know these things.”

Moreover, he stressed that, unlike the old days, people don’t have to die from HIV/AIDS anymore as there is now available help, information, and resources.

From April 19 to June 1, 2024, 9Works Theatrical will be staging Jonathan Larson’s “Rent” at the RCBC Theater Plaza.

The all-Filipino cast includes Kapuso singer Anthony Rosaldo, who will play the character Roger Davis, Garrett Bolden as Tom Collins, and Thea Astley as Mimi Marquez.

Also among the cast members are Molly Langle, who will be alternating with Thea as Mimi, Reb Atadero and Ian Pangilinan as Mark Cohen, Lance Reblando and Adrian Lindayag as Angel Dumott Schunard, Justine Peña and Jasmine Fitzgerald as Maureen Johnson, Mica Fajardo and Fay Castro as Joanne Jefferson, Markki Stroem and Guji Lorenzana as Benny, Kai Banson as Sue, Jordan Andrews as Gordon, Chesko Rodriguez and Paul Valdez as Steve, and Misha Fabian as Ally. —JCB, GMA Integrated News