Students aren’t shying away from some heady topics as the Wareham Viking Theatre Company prepares to perform “Rent: School Edition” with shows scheduled on May 11 - 14.

While the student show tones down the themes of the award-winning Broadway musical, it does include mature elements such as drug use, sexuality and strong language and is not recommended for children younger than 13.

Drama Director Carolyn Gomes Vieira said the student actors decide on what shows to put on each year and settled on Rent, marking a dramatic turn from last spring’s bubbly and bright “Legally Blonde the Musical.”

Loosely based on Puccini’s “La Boheme,” the show follows a year in the lives of young artists coping with the AIDS epidemic, addiction, homelessness and poverty, all while struggling to make it in Manhattan’s East Village.

Set in the 1990s, the show tells the tale of Mark Cohen (played by Zach Flanigan), an unsuccessful filmmaker fighting for the homeless and his roommate Roger Davis (played by Coleby Paling.) Davis is confronting AIDS at a time when the disease was a death sentence for those who contracted it.

Other characters include a drag queen, performance artist and disgraced professor as they navigate issues of love, life and loss.

The show goes on May 11, 12 and 13 at 7 p.m. in the Wareham High School Auditorium. General admission tickers cost $15, seniors and students pay $10. A matinee will be performed on May 14 at noon.

On the morning of the May 14 show, the Wareham Viking Theatre Company will host a Mother’s Day brunch from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. catered by Wareham High School culinary students. Brunch tickets cost $10 for the general public and $8 for seniors and students.

Other members of the main cast include: Abby Glidden, Hannah Eddleston, Mikaylee McEwan, Nick Dix, Brooke Cannon and Matt Thompson.