Fans of the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent have waited a long, long time for it to return to the West End. The last time London saw a major production of Jonathan Larson’s rock musical was in 1998 at the Shaftesbury Theatre – and in September this year, it will return in time for the 30th anniversary of the show’s premiere on Broadway, this time at the Duke of York’s Theatre.
Gaten Matarazzo has been announced as Mark – an aspiring documentary filmmaker capturing his group of young artist friends struggling in New York’s East Village. The play is inspired by the Puccini opera La Bohème and celebrates community and resilience in the face of uncertainty. In 2005, it was adapted as a feature film, where it gained a whole new fanbase for its story and songs like Seasons Of Love and Take Me Or Leave Me.
While Matarazzo is best-known for playing Dustin Henderston in Netflix’s Stranger Things, he started on Broadway, playing Benjamin in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, then went on to play roles including Jared Kleinman in Dear Evan Hansen and Jesus in Godspell. The production will be directed by Luke Sheppard, who recently won the Olivier Award for best director for his work on Paddington The Musical, the smash hit currently on at the Savoy Theatre.
Produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and Chris Harper Productions, this show is inspired by and being created in association with Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre, which staged Rent in 2020. “We were completely exhilarated when we first saw Luke Sheppard’s staging at the Hope Mill Theatre in 2020 – it felt immediate, emotional, and utterly alive,” Chris Harper and Sonia Friedman said in a statement.
Tickets for Rent are on sale now, and the season begins at The Duke of York’s Theatre on September 26, 2026.
