I am a repeat offender when it comes to returning to Rocky Horror Show and have reviewed the show 5 times alone on this website for various tours and productions, even before starting this website I had travelled across the country to see this show and it is possibly the musical I have seen the most times!

Rocky Horror Show is a cult classic musical that has been around since 1973 and has won a place in many theatre goers and non theatre goers hearts alike. It tells of Brad and Janet who get a flat tyre and ring on the door bell of Frank N Furter’s castle. This leads to a night full of illicit affairs, aliens and science experiments!

Whilst this show may not be considered as raunchy or raise as many eyebrows s it did 50 years ago it remains pure escapism and one that doesn’t take itself too seriously and simply sets out to entertain. From the moment we meet Brad and Janet it had me laughing out loud with the jokes, no mean feat considering I knew most of the punch lines. The delivery from the cast always felt fresh and their energy was exceptional.

Jason Donovan took on the iconic role of Frank N Furter and he belonged on that stage, he embraced the madness of the show and his scenes in bed with Brad and Janet were perfect – just in the right side of the line between innuendo and smut. Some Rocky Horror Show virgins are surprised to learn that the audience are expected to heckle the cast! The vast majority of responsibility for dealing with these heckles is down to the narrator who was played by Nathan Canton. Casting a stand up comedian in the role was a piece of genius. His retorts were witty and he really brought his own personality into the role which I adored. Playing Brad *asshole* and Janet *slut* was Connor Carson and Stacey Monahan. Despite Monahan being an understudy for the role they were well cast together and played up the characters brilliantly. Morgan Jackson was the perfect Rocky whose physique looked like it was created for the role but just as important his innocence boyish portrayal combined with his flips and dance moves meant that you couldn’t help but feel for Frank N Furthers newest creation.

Frank N Furters 3 staff members , Riff Raff, Magenta and Columbia were played by Job Greuter, Natasha Hoeberigs and Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli and were all brilliant in their roles. Greuter had brilliant physicality in the role and I adored his haunting voice in his solo moments.

The direction of the show hasn’t changed much over the recent years but this motto of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ certainty rings true for this show and in particular for this version of it. It is still very fun and playful with a huge (and respectful) nod to the more traditional elements of the show. The costumes in this show are always a feast for the eyes with sequins, gold hot pants and heels being just some of the staples you would expect and again this production didn’t disappoint. The set also hasn’t changed much from previous tours and whilst it works it would be lovely to see what else could be done set and lighting wise to give some freshness to the show without changing the story or characters. However if this is your first foray into Rocky Horror then it is a production very faithful to all those that have gone before it.

 I encourage everyone from Rocky virgins to those that know all of the audience participation lines to get out their corset and time warp down to Wimbledon.

Rocky Horror Show is on at New Wimbledon Theatre until 5th July and it then continues on its tour. You can find out more on their website here.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Cabaret, Starlight Express and Choir Of Man.