Writer: Richard O’Brien
Director: Christopher Luscombe
Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show is a cult classic, an underground gem turned smash hit (pretty mainstream) rock and roll musical which has been going since 1973. Full of interactivity and audience partici…pation (one for the hardened fans), this is a show that demands to be watched, and with a live band and fantastically strong voices, the audience don’t just watch it, they lap it up.
The theme of the show is essentially that of a science fiction B movie, introduced to us by Usherette Natasha Hoeberigs. Young sweethearts Brad Majors (Alex Hetherington at this performance) and Janet Weiss (Lauren Chia) get a flat tyre coming home from a wedding, and as the rain starts to come down in an ominous fashion they decide to go to the nearest castle (as you do) to phone for help. Instead they get much more than they bargained for as they meet the inhabitants of the castle, Frank ‘n’ Furter and his entourage. There’s cross dressing, sex, a lot of singing, more sex and an alien shoot out, in a frankly ridiculous narrative that feels part panto and part Ru Paul’s Drag Race. It shouldn’t work, but it absolutely does.
Some of the audience were definitely expecting to see Jason Donovan in the lead role, as he is playing selected venues during the tour, but alas it was not to be. However, any mild disappointment the audience may have felt was soon dispelled with the appearance of Adam Strong as Frank ‘n’ Furter – he oozed a manic charisma and his voice was fantastic, his songs were some of the standout numbers in the show. Strong plays Furter in a more emotive and less aggressive way than previous incarnations, and this works well – particularly in I’m Going Home, but he does lack the volatile temper that is usually a trademark of the part.
Our narrator for the evening was Jackie Clune, comedian and star of smash-hit Motherland. Clune has been the narrator off and on for three years now and it shows – she knows every ad lib, old and new, and has some excellent one-liners, put downs and witticisms that audiences delight in hearing.
Job Greuter excels as Riff Raff in this production, showcasing his incredible voice in one of the first songs in the show, Over at the Frankenstein Place and stealing virtually every scene he is in with his creepy facial expressions and body language. Richard O’Brien would definitely approve.
This version isn’t the most creative your reviewer has seen. The rudest part of the show, ‘the bed scene’ works fine, but it doesn’t pack the punch that the shadow puppets behind a screen have previously done and there are definitely moments that feel pared down, both vocally and with the set. One of the joys for audiences seeing this show again and again is the familiarity of the script, but another joy is seeing what’s changed, what is new and different, and there isn’t much really. The dancing is slick, the singing is faultless, but the heart and soul of the show wasn’t quite there. No matter though, as by the end everyone is up singing and dancing to The Time Warp, then the lingerie clad audience members spill out into the night quoting their favourite lines and marvelling at how anyone can wear heels quite as high as Frank ‘n’ Furter.
Runs until 5th April 2025
