Back in the 1990s it was not uncommon for a group of colleagues to pop into Jacob’s Well – yes, I did work in Bradford – for a relaxing pint or two of proper beer after a hard day drinking tea. One evening there were some people in a corner who were obviously in the early throes of a celebration. We thought nothing of it until another quartet came in dressed in basques and fishnet stockings. We surmised that it must be a particularly diverse kind of strippergram, as there was a mixture of genders involved, until the barman informed us that the Rocky Horror Show was playing at the Alhambra and that was the uniform of the devotees. Needless to say we created reasons to pop in for a pint the rest of the week for the free burlesque show.
A mere thirty or so years later I have at last seen the show for myself. I had always thought that it would just be an excuse to cavort around the stage singing bawdy songs, dancing suggestively and the telling of risqué jokes. Actually it is a deep existential work exploring the consequences which could arise from unforeseen circumstances, and the potentially lasting effects they could have on lives. The philosophical core of the story concerns not only the couple who find themselves in a dilemma, but the destruction, of both the relationships and lives, of those whom they ask for help. OK, that last bit is a load of pretentious bollocks, it is just a night of fun and filth really and brilliantly well done.
The show begins with a faux cinema curtain at the front of the stage with an usherette singing the opening scene-setting song, called Science Fiction. The curtain opens to reveal a preppy couple, Janet and Brad, in a car singing about how much they love each other. The car breaks down and they walk to an old Gothic style house to ask if they can use the phone. It was written in 1973 before mobiles. Once inside they meet an assortment of strange characters whose sole job seems to be to cater for the every whim, and there are a lot of them, of the owner, Frank N Furter.
Stephen Webb as Frank N Furter
Mr Furter has been carrying out experiments trying to create a human being, as it is obviously more convenient than going out on the pull, and he has come up with a specimen straight from the pages of a body builder magazine. He must have been thorough as his creation was realised wearing a pair of leopardskin budgie smugglers. Anyway, his acolytes are involved in a variety of physical pastimes in-between singing and dancing, not as many, however, as the master of the house.
Needless to say, our loving couple have various sessions of relationship counselling provided by Frank, from which they discover that, in the words of the Communards’ song, there’s more to love than boy meets girl! Duly educated they join in enthusiastically.
As you would imagine, all doesn’t end well, the cinema curtain closes and the usherette brings the proceedings to a close. Well, not quite to a close, as we have the obligatory song and dance audience participation slot at the end, with everyone Doing The Time Warp Again, and other bangers from the show.
The show was brilliantly put together, as it should be as it is celebrating its fiftieth year, with the story being told by a Narrator. The programme had him down as Philip Franks, but it wasn’t, so I rather think it was the understudy, Reece Budin. Whomever it was he was superb. His readings from the story book were interspersed by concerted shouts of comments and abuse from a group of people at the front who I thought might be having a Bodyguard moment, but it became obvious that the heckling was being done by cast members, probably the band. His retorts to these, sometimes rehearsed but others seemingly ad lib, were hilarious. Of course, prompted by this, there were a few odd shouts by audience members, which were about as funny as the shipping forecast, but these were skilfully ignored by the cast. I had another panic attack when everyone stood up halfway through the first act, but it was to Do The Time Warp when it first appears in the show.
Haley Flaherty as Janet
The actors who played the lovers were great; Brad, played by Richard Meek, looked every inch the geek, bearing a resemblance to Christopher Reeve as Clarke Kent; and Helen Flaherty as Janet, who was a ringer for Shelley Long in Cheers, the prim blonde who looked as though she wished she were the blonde bombshell.
Stephen Webb, as Frank N Furter, was amazing, effortlessly switching between charming, uber camp and terrorising within the blink of an eye.
My feelings about the audience dressing up, or down, are mixed. Yes, they do lend atmosphere, but they seemed to be more concerned about themselves than other paying customers. There were two blokes, both about six feet tall, in costumes which included large black curly wigs, totally obscuring the view of the chap unfortunate enough to be in the seat behind them. Sometimes it is not all about you.
I am very glad to have seen this show and enjoyed it very much. I laughed and danced but I doubt I will become one of its disciples. I can see why it became a cult when it was first performed because it was only five years since the strict censorship under the power of The Lord Chamberlain had been abolished and a year previous to that when homosexuality was legalised. Add to that stuff which is freely available online, and the shock value has been lost. After fifty years the on-stage antics look a bit stale and dated more like a 21st Century version of The Benny Hill Show, sorry millennials, you will have to Youtube that.
Rocky Horror Show runs at Leeds Grand Theatre until Saturday, 1st July. If you want to find out more and buy tickets, please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/rocky-horror-2023/
All images supplied by Leeds Grand Theatre. Photographs by David Freeman
Tyke It To The Limit 