The Time Warp hit town last night, and in the time honoured way, whether travelling in to the centre on the number 4 or the 43, many succumbing to its pleasures felt compelled to wear nothing but undies, fishnets and basques. St Augustine’s Parade was awash with jiggering flesh as we lined up for our bag checks. Once inside, this jolly crew was more than ready to play its part in a fast, furious and fun evening’s entertainment.
This Rocky team didn’t disappoint, and by the time the cast reprised the Time Warp as an encore the entire auditorium was swaying as one in delirium!
Rocky is weathering the decades well. Since its launch in the sunset of the sixties era, its anarchic message still has great appeal, and the character Frank-N-Furter remains an outrageous expression of daring unfettered physical pleasure in a world where passion usually resides below the surface and where transexuality is only just beginning to be countenanced without fear or discrimination.
The proceedings kicked off very encouragingly with the superb Kay Murphy strutting her stuff as the perfect usherette, later nailing it as the seething and sexually charged Magenta. Richard Meek looked custom-made for the role of the earnest Brad while Diane Vickers gave Janet the right amount of primness the role demands as foil for Frank-N-Furter’s carnal cravings. The seduction scene later, in which Frank has his way with first Janet, then Brad was not only very funny, but showed a great chemistry between the three leading protagonists.
Norman Pace, of Hale and Pace, did a great job as the narrator, and can claim some of the funniest moments of the night as he fended off some of the more lewd suggestions from the boisterous audience, occasionally having to remind everybody that he was working to a script!
Directed by Christopher Luscombe, and fired up by the excellent Rocky Horror band, this production never lacked pace – two hours swept by in a twinkling. While Liam Tamne’s utter command of the role of Frank-N-Furter glued the show together, I was impressed with a deliciously over-the-top portrayal of Riff-Raff by Kristian Lavercombe, who looked as if born to play the role. Sophie Linder-Lee as Columbia nearly stole the show in a wonderfully funny moment when about to walk out on her ‘master’ and the physically ripped Dominic Andersen provided the perfect eye candy bursting out as his master’s creation Rocky.
Dammit Janet, The Time Warp, I Can Make You a Man, Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul, Touch_A, Touch-A, Touch Me – Richard O’Brien’s songs still swing. The band could sometimes overpower the vocals, and there was perhaps too much top to the vocal mix on occasion, but by the time Norman Pace closed the night with the immortal: “and crawling on the planet’s face, some insects called the human race, lost in time, and lost in space, and meaning,” the fishnetted hoards ahead of him were in the mood to party hard! ★★★★☆ Simon Bishop 19th July 2016
