The Rocky Horror Show – Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield and Touring

Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show was reviewed at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield. The tour continues until 13 June 2026.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

The Rocky Horror Show, Richard O’Brien’s cult rock ‘n’ roll musical, needs very little introduction. The story follows Brad and Janet, two archetypal 1950s-Americana sweethearts who stumble upon the castle of Frank-N-Furter; a cross-dressing, hyper-sexualised scientist and force of nature, on the evening that he is to bring his Frankenstein-esque playmate, Rocky, to life.

This production continues with the current UK tour and remains tremendous fun. Heading the cast as Frank-N-Furter, Jason Donavan plays the iconic role as a washed-up, gin-soaked, Norma Desmond-style has-been, rather than the charismatic, smooth-talking bundle of charm, persuasiveness and deviance usually associated with the character. It is a mixed portrayal, with the grand entrance to ‘Sweet Transvestite’ delivered with too much aloofness and disinterest to allow the character to explode onto stage, whereas in contrast, the melancholy persona brings new meaning and poignancy to Frank’s swansong ‘I’m Going Home’.

Expertly marshalling the crowd, Nathan Caton is well suited to his role as The Narrator, cracking improvised quips to tame the audience and letting them know that no matter how good their heckle, there is always a better put-down.

Sporting his Charles Atlas physique, and being all “blonde hair and a tan”,  Morgan Jackson is an excellent Rocky, and his vocals and energetic acrobatics during ‘Sword of Damocles’ are tremendous fun; while Connor Carson’s vocals as Brad are simply superb, nowhere more evident than during ‘Once in a While’. Natasha Hoeberigs relishes her duel role of Usherette and Magenta, and Lauren Chia brings a naive charm to her portrayal of Janet.

But to be fair, you would be hard-pressed to find a weak link within the cast in this top-notch production and those on stage look as though they are enjoying themselves as much as the audience.

Rocky Horror is presented here in all its gloriously loud, colourful, neon Day-Glo garishness. The set design by Hugh Durrant is beautiful, starting with a cartoon-like take on Denton, the home of happiness, before moving on to the more foreboding setting of Frank’s castle, which is a wonderfully detailed set that allows for a versatile performance space; with the celluloid film-style windows around the top of the set being a subtle nod to the play’s B-movie homages. Finally the stage is transformed into an abundance of luxury for the floor show and looks fantastic.

There is a superb and immersive lighting design by Nick Richings which floods the stage in reds, greens and purple, and spotlights which permeate the audience, making them feel like they are part of the production.

The show packs in a slew of musical numbers in its relatively short runtime with ‘Science Fiction’ and ‘The Time Warp’ remaining crowd pleasing favourites. But it is the floor show comprising of ‘Rose Tint My World’, ‘Wild and Untamed Thing’ and ‘I’m Going Home’ which is where musical highlights come. The addition of the live band adds to the thrill of the musical numbers and the choreography by Nathan M Wright brings a fun vivaciousness to the proceedings.

The show remains a theatrical juggernaut, and the atmosphere at any Rocky Horror performance is one which has to be experienced. Having lost its power to shock as it did 50 years ago with its risqué themes, what remains is a wonderfully funny slice of tongue-in-cheek kitsch. Warm up your vocal chords, leave your inhibitions in the foyer and enjoy the experience.

Paul Szabo