The Rocky Horror Show tells of the adventures of Brad and Janet, two young, newly engaged love birds. On a dark and grim November evening, they run into car problems and find themselves at a Frankenstein-esque castle and meet handyman Riff-Raff, crazy scientist Dr. Frank N Furter and an assortment of crazy characters. What follows is a science fiction B-movie story which sometimes you can follow, and sometimes you can’t and oddly, it doesn’t really matter.
It helped that this version was a much sharper presentation thanks to an exceptionally better cast. When I saw the show previously, the superb Kristian Lavercombe played Riff Raff and then was the star of the show, and he features here again as does the equally excellent Stephen Webb as Frank N Furter. However, while they present their signature excellent performances in characters they have played for a considerable time, they do, on this occasion get upstaged elsewhere.
For me, the star of the show this time is the role which was one of the weakest elements my last time up, the narrator. Philip Franks here is simply incredible and worth the ticket price on his own. His sharpness of delivery and his assuredness with the audience is everything the role needs. It helps that he has impeccable timing in his delivery and that his jokes are sharp as a knife. The Prince Andrew one especially is one to be relished.
There are few weak links in this production and the ensemble and cast bristles with energy upon Hugh Durrant’s perfectly comic book-like and bright set. They expertly delivered the musical numbers alongside Greg Arrowsmith’s directorship of his excellent band. Director Christopher Luscombe keeps this two-hour show (including the interval) moving sharply with no dip in pace at all and creates slick and smooth scene changes with the minimum of set change requirements.
This incarnation of The Rocky Horror Show comes overwhelmingly recommended, be you a regular, which means you are coming anyway, or new to the show. It is a show that all theatre audiences should witness at least once, to see if they are a fan of this incredibly bizarre and iconic show, and this version with this excellent cast is probably the very best place to begin.
The most surreal and fun night to be had without the use of hallucinogenic drugs.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Performance reviewed: Monday 4th July 2022 at the Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton.
