The Rocky Horror Show – New Wimbledon Theatre and Touring

Picture: David Freeman

The Rocky Horror Show continues at the New Wimbledon Theatre, London until 26 November 2022 and on tour until 2 September 2023.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Even as a Rocky Horror Show virgin for the best part of half a century, even among all the cross-dressing, the innuendo and the coarse repartee, I still fancied my chances of spotting that the Narrator in this touring revival was not being played, as per the programme, by the estimable Philip Franks.

And, no, it wasn’t Franks but the brilliant Jackie Clune who had taken over the key role the previous week at Newcastle (why weren’t the audience told?). And while Franks would doubtless have been excellent, what a glorious choice to draft in an actress who gained fame as a stand-up early in her career before becoming a TV favourite through comedy series like Mandy and Motherland.

Because stand-ups must daily deal with audience abuse and have a quick-witted response to cap it. And that’s exactly what the Narrator has to do in Richard O’Brien’s evergreen and still throbbing piece de resistance which actively encourages audience participation, whether phoney or genuine.

Thanks to that theatrical ploy, I now have details of Clune’s labia, not a desperately interesting topic but a mildly amusing part, along with topical lines about “stranger than an honest Tory” and being “the fourth most popular Liz Truss impersonator in the country”, of a format that now looks a little dated.

Little wonder at that as Rocky has been around almost forever, this most popular rock ‘n’ roll musical of them all now on its 12th UK tour and having time-warped its way from the King’s Road to Wagga Wagga, from Jericho to Barcelona, LA to Rio, hitting the West End and Broadway and being turned into a hit movie along the way, it surely is beyond criticism.

Seen and loved by umpteen trillion, one presumably sane human being was said to have seen the cult movie more than 1,300 times. It takes all sorts. It’s very rude, particularly the screamingly funny scene that opens the second half, and I certainly wouldn’t want to explain to my 12-year-old grandson exactly what, among all the rumpy-pumpy variations, was going on or invited my maiden aunt if I still had one.

The story, a homage to 1950s rock and old science-fiction B-movies, and the songs – that much-loved floor filler ‘Time Warp’ still gets people up and away – don’t change. No need to go there so let’s concentrate on the performances.

Clune isn’t the only one scoring a 10, Kristian Lavercombe has been Riff Raff, Dr Frank N Furter’s spidery assistant, more than 2,000 times and has not surprisingly got him off to a T. I loved his performance, and Haley Flaherty wins top marks as the wide-eyed but secretly wild Janet.

She and Richard Meek convince totally as the simpletons wandering by chance into mad scientist Frank N Furter’s haunted mansion and sexual free-for-all in this bizarre and bewildering tale of the destruction of innocence.

Stephen Webb roars on to the stage with an epic ‘Sweet Transvestite’ as crazy Frank who invents the perfect man but kills him off – I did say it was bewildering – and later makes a good job of some neat rock ballads. O’Brien knows how to write a song and Christopher Luscombe’s direction is as polished as it should be as he has taken this production all over the world off and on for the past 16 years.

Costumes (Sue Blane), set (Hugh Durrant), special effects, musical arrangements (Richard Hartley) and the six-strong band under Charlie Inglis all play their part in keeping this glittery, subversive old warhorse charging along like it has never been away. Bonkers but, judging by the swaying Wimbledon audience of all ages, still a winner with a devoted and faithful following.

Jeremy Chapman