Why 'Rent' is More Essential Than Ever in 2025

(Photo: Jason Goodman)

by Chris Peterson

A couple of days ago, I saw that a community theatre was planning to do RENT later this year, and I’ll admit my first reaction was, Really? We’re still doing RENT? It felt like one of those shows that had its moment and now mostly lives on reputation.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I had it wrong. Maybe RENT isn’t dated at all. Maybe this is actually the perfect moment for it.

Because once you get past the scarves, candles, and all the baggage people bring to the title, the show is still about things that feel very current: housing insecurity, financial instability, the struggle to make art in a world that doesn’t value artists nearly enough, and the need to find community when the larger systems around you are failing. None of that feels trapped in the 1990s.

And then there’s the AIDS crisis, which is a huge part of why the show still matters. The reality of HIV/AIDS has changed dramatically, thankfully, but stigma, inequality, and disparities in access to care have not disappeared. RENT still has the ability to remind people of that history while also pointing to the ways those conversations are far from over.

More than anything, though, RENT is about chosen family. And in a world that still feels isolated, divided, and exhausted, that part of the show may hit harder now than ever. Its characters are messy and imperfect, but they keep choosing one another. That idea still resonates.

So no, I don’t think RENT is just a nostalgia title we keep dragging out because people like “Seasons of Love.” In 2025, it still has something real to say about survival, connection, and what it means to hold onto each other when the world gets cruel.

At this point, the better question may not be why we’re still doing RENT.

It may be how a show about illness, housing, art, and community could possibly not still feel relevant.