RENT - PLOT HOLE?

[wafflehouse2005]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 4:17pm

I saw the off-Broadway production of RENT a few days ago, and although I was really energized by certain aspects of the production, some of the choices made by the creative team really highlighted some of the flaws within the book/score, etc.

One major plot hole (I think) that I caught for the first time during this performance was Mark's response to helping Maureen with her equipment.

Mark and Rodger are in their apartment, Mark asks if Rodger would like to "catch Maureen's show in the lot or grab some dinner", and then departs the apartment - to go where? He can't possibly be going to help with Maureen's equipment, because after One Song Glory, Light My Candle and Today For You, Mark is back in the apartment and now has "a protest to save" and then moves on to Tango Maureen, in which he actually saves it.

Where does Mark go during his original departure before One Song Glory?

Updated On: 2/22/12 at 04:17 PM

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 4:44pm

Out for a pack of smokes.

Does it matter?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 4:46pm

RENT - PLOT HOLE? Yes. It is.

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 4:51pm

The biggest hole in ReNt is that the characters film, fall in love, get evicted, get beaten up, dance, meet each other, have their first fight, light candles, moan, change into full drag, fix a sound console and a trillion more things in ... 3 hours. They should have gotten an award for time management.

Updated On: 2/22/12 at 04:51 PM

[wafflehouse2005]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 5:09pm

Thanks guys. I'll make sure to answer your questions about broadway credits, **** I've heard in the theatre, or what my opinion is for best play with the same amount of sarcasm and helpfulness that you've given me

Anyone with real thoughts?

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 5:13pm

Not being sarcastic, but I don't see why it matters. He went out.

[Calvin]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 5:19pm

I haven't seen the show in years, but doesn't he go out to look for Collins? Or maybe he was just in the john.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 5:23pm

Okay, maybe my response was a little snarky, but really, I meant it. Why does it matter? As in, why even ask the question? And even if you can justify asking the question, it's certainly not a "plot hole."

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 5:33pm

Mark doesn't actually tell Roger where he's going, but he says he'll be back to check up on Roger. Hence, Mark returns and later meets up with Joanne.

[exedore]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 6:07pm

I always took it as Mark leaves to go to the lot for Maureen, meets up with Angel and Collins, and goes back with them before heading out again.

Simplest answer so far...

[rorschach37]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 6:13pm

In the 2005 movie Mark tells Roger he's going out to look for Collins.

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 11:00pm

I always took it as Mark leaves to go to the lot for Maureen, meets up with Angel and Collins, and goes back with them before heading out again.

Simplest answer so far...


That's how I always took it, too.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 11:13pm

Blaxx, Larson (or probably more accurately Billy Aronson) based the structure on that of La Boheme. Act One: one day in which impossibly magical things happen. And Two: One year. I think that's about how fast love goes and how fast time goes. Even in hundreds of thousands of minutes.

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 11:20pm

Yeah, too bad instead of magical it turned out nonsensical.

Updated On: 2/22/12 at 11:20 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 11:22pm

Well, chalk that up to being one of the things that the movie definitively DID help fix- expanding Act 1 from being three hours of madly compressed events to a whole week.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 11:36pm

I thought that was a terrible change for the movie. All urgency was lost by stretching it over three days

There are a lot of things in ReNt that make no sense. Like Maureen's eulogy for Angel. She knew him a few months but she has that line about the tablecloth dress and how next year they were mass producing them at the Gap.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 11:38pm

Before One Song Glory, Roger asks Mark where he is going and Mark responds "Maureen calls.". So he is definitely headed to the lot. I assume he runs into Collins and Angel on his way. Keep in mind we aren't actually watching the show in real time. We don't know what amount of time lapses between scenes, or if certain scenes are occurring simultaneously.

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/22/12 at 11:44pm

Keep in mind we aren't actually watching the show in real time.

We're not?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 12:21am

Nope. If it were in real time, we'd be in the theater for 1 year. I think it's enough that it feels like a year.

[ActingIsLovee]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 12:35am

if you want something that heightens Rent's plot holes (and a good laugh) read the broadway abridged script for Rent. http://www.broadwayabridged.com/scripts/rent.html

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 5:58am

I think one of the most common misconceptions about RENT (which was mentioned in this thread) was how too much happens in too little time. This is simply not accurate because the entire show takes place over one year, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Eve. Act II does a better job of making the passage of time more clear, by mentionthing things like Valentine's Day, the spring season, and the fall season. In Act I, some audiences members may be tempted to think that the show is happening in real time. But that is somewhat of a ludicrous idea. Why is it so hard to believe that During One Song Glory, more than several hours have passed in "real time"?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 9:08am

Rent must be the only musical ever written that doesn't take place in real time. Where more than one thing happens to people in a year. People exit the stage and then come back later. WTF is that all about?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 9:34am

Why is it so hard to believe that During One Song Glory, more than several hours have passed in "real time"?

Because within the parameters the show sets up for itself, there are only three hours from the beginning of the show until Maureen's performance.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 10:39am

There are a lot of things in ReNt that make no sense. Like Maureen's eulogy for Angel. She knew him a few months but she has that line about the tablecloth dress and how next year they were mass producing them at the Gap.

To me, it didn't sound like she was speaking literally, but just in a general sense to make a point. Sort of like saying, "And the next thing you know, everyone is wearing it".

I guess I just never had a problem suspending disbelief for this musical any more than for any other musical. I mean, look at West Side Story, which take place in roughly 48 hours. Everything before One Hand One Heart happens in a matter of hours. The rest occurs the next day, starting in the late afternoon. And like Rent, the leading lady doesn't die in either show as in the original source materials on which they were based.

Updated On: 2/23/12 at 10:39 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 1:07pm

I think one of the most common misconceptions about RENT (which was mentioned in this thread) was how too much happens in too little time. This is simply not accurate because the entire show takes place over one year, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Eve.

As Phyllis mentioned, most of Act I takes place within 3 hours. Just the main couple goes through so much in 3 hours than a lot of people throughout their whole marriage, not to mention the rest of the cast. The characters must also run very fast from one place to the other.