Frankly fabulous! ‘Rocky Horror’ brings glitter and gore

FIFTY years after The Rocky Horror Picture Show first hit our cinema screens, the camp story of how Frank N. Furter created Rocky in a laboratory continues its cult allure, as audiences lapped up the KickstArt stage production premiere in Durban on Thursday night.

- TERRY VAN DER WALT

Dressed for the part — lots of bright wigs, outrageous makeup and feather boas - the audience packed and rocked the Elizabeth Sneddon for Richard O'Brien's classic masterpiece, directed by Steven Stead.

Time Warp

The movie first screened in 1975, becoming a beloved cult movie that plays homage to kitsch and campy B-grade horror and science fiction films.

The reason behind the enduring success of O’Brien’s original stage production in 1973, ahead of it being turned into a timeless cinematic musical, is captured by Stead in the programme: “Perhaps it’s the irresistible rock score, the glitter-soaked spectacle, or the deliciously naughty humour that dares us to laugh at our own taboos.

“It’s all those things, but I suspect that it’s the show’s tacky, tawdry charm and its spirit of delightful anarchy that disarms us.

“It gleefully thumbs its nose at convention and invites us to revel in freedom, chaos, and lashings of glitter.”