This production fell right before the 2012 Presidential Election and the foretold Mayan Apocalypse. I used the relevance of society's call for social change in Obama's re-election process and the concept of 'the end of the world' to inform this production of Rent . These characters, whether directly themselves or because of their close friends, are all facing their own particular apocalypse and in many ways because society around them misunderstands them to the point of blatant discrimination and ignorance.