Skip to main content

Review: The Rocky Horror Show at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

I wonder if writer Richard O’Brien expected The Rocky Horror Show to enthral audiences of hundreds more than 45 years after it debuted at the tiny Royal Court in London. Exploring themes of gender identity and sexuality in a tribute to mid-20th century science fiction, O’Brien’s outrageous and energetic Rocky Horror Show is an immense amount of fun.

The show follows the eye-opening encounters of newly engaged couple Brad and Janet, who unintentionally become the guests of a death-defying extravaganza one stormy night.

Stephen Webb marvels as scientist Frank-N-Furter, commanding the stage of the tour’s remarkable cast throughout his confident portrayal of the wild Transylvanian transvestite. Philip Franks excels as The Narrator, modernising the 1973 musical with a remark on Brexit proceedings and responding with sharp wit to engagement from the audience, and former Strictly Come Dancing professional Joanne Clifton puts on an equally compelling performance as Janet. Clifton’s melodramatic expressions compliment the façade of confidence conveyed in A1 star Ben Adams’ portrayal of Brad, with the pair working well together as the show’s naïve lovers.

Despite the unruly proceedings of The Rocky Horror Show, the production behind it is consistently slick. Choreography from Nathan M Wright is purposeful and polished, and flamboyant costume design by Sue Blane aids the dramatics of this outlandish show.

Set designs from Hugh Durrant likewise serve to emphasise the absurdity of the unfolding events inside the scientist’s mansion, and immersive, colourful lighting by designer Nick Richings supports the electric atmosphere that fills the Lyceum throughout the show. Many of the team behind the show have been working on it for years and ensure that the show still captivates its audiences.

As the production concludes to 1,000 people up on their feet for a reprise of the Time Warp, it is clear that The Rocky Horror Show remains a production quite literally in a realm of its own.

5 stars


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interrail 2016: LAKE BLED

Our longest journey by far turned out to be well worth the pain. Although it was nine hours long and we waited for the wrong bus in Bled for over an hour, we had a Harry Potter compartment and we arrived at our destination- Lake Bled, Slovenia. What a place. We lobbed our bags into the lockers at our hostel and immediately went on the hunt for a restaurant to eat at (nine hours of travelling can certainly work up an appetite). Pizzeria Rustica served us enormous pizzas and also some pizza-burgers, which are basically burgers with pizza dough for bread. According to my friends, pizza-burgers are something that should be brought to our hometown.  As it was relatively late by the time we had finished, we only had time to walk to the lake itself before getting to bed. On arrival, we had been asked by the hostel whether we were there more for the night life or nature. Considering the fact that we were deprived of at least 20 hours sleep, we went for nature, rejecting ...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Dr Faustus'- Duke of York's Theatre, London

If you're one of the literary buffs who has heard of Christopher Marlowe's 'Dr. Faustus', you'd probably be surprised to hear of a theatre production of the play involving full-frontal nudity, rape and a whole lot of bodily fluid. Recently, I watched The Jamie Lloyd Theatre Company's adaptation of the play and, yes, that is exactly what it entailed.  'Dr. Faustus' follows the aspirations of academic Dr. John Faustus, who, in exchange for 24 years of power, wealth and honour, agrees to sign his soul away to the Devil. Lloyd's modern rewrite of the play intelligently mixed old with new; instead of presenting heavy criticism of the Catholic Church, the play focuses on the dark side of celebrity. The titular role of Faustus was performed by none other than Kit Harington (aka Jon Snow of 'Game of Thrones'), who, you'll be pleased to know, was very much alive at the Duke of York's Theatre, London. For those who know the plot of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bucket List: Revisited.

The year 2016 is at an end. It has undoubtedly been a turbulent 12 months of highs and lows, and has thrown at us many, many (mainly political) surprises. On a personal level, 2016 featured the best seven weeks of my life over summer as well as possibly the lowest few weeks too across the year- but let’s not dwell on them right now. In July 2015, I wrote a Bucket List and, last year, I feel I was preeeetty successful in completing some of them.   Okay, so I may not have completed no.1 on the list (I am indeed studying French but perfecting it maaaay take some time) but I certainly did eat a stack of at least four pancakes- at an iHop in Orlando, Florida. Raspberry and white chocolate- I remember it well. Did it live up to my Bucket List expectations? Oh, yes. I also managed to tick off the slightly more extreme third thing on my Bucket List- a trip to New York. What a city. I definitely intend to return one day in the future. One day I was in New York City, the next I was a...
Post a Comment
Read more