As an unabashed musical theatre fan, I am thrilled to get the chance to attend The Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadowcast, produced by Haus of Flash, a Taranaki-based performance company specialising in all things drag and burlesque.

Before I kick properly into the review of the production, this show requires some explaining if you’re thinking of attending.

Fifty years ago, The Rocky Horror Show, a musical written by Kiwi Richard O’Brien debuted in London, with a movie adaptation (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) released in 1975. The film was generally reviewed negatively, but quickly became a cult classic, embraced and iterated on by the community who felt a connection to the film. In the story, there are themes of fluid sexuality, diversity, gender queerness and self-confidence. The film found a place in the hearts of the LGBTQ+ community, people who felt like outsiders, misfits and ‘weirdos’ in the late 70s coming together to celebrate their unique identities through the film. Late night showings of the film where movie-goers would act out the parts, heckle the action and use home-made props to add to the experience became common, and from this, the Shadowcast experience was born.

In essence, at any Shadowcast what one can expect is for the movie to play, with actors in full costume and makeup lip-syncing in front of the projection. Audiences are encouraged to join in, dancing along and using a bag of props at specific points in the movie to add to the immersive experience.

The performance by Haus of Flash is slick and sexy – five cast members support us along the journey and join in the action in large group dance numbers, with the rest of the cast playing their respective parts with gusto. Erika Flash as Dr Frank N. Furter is mesmerising, commanding the stage whenever she appears in all her 7-foot dragged-up glory.

A special mention must go to Sonny Deacle as Riff Raff, the long-suffering manservant to Frank, who is energetic and creepy in equal measure – I find myself unable to take my eyes off him at times. The subtleties of his performance provide depth and nuance to the character that is impressive in the context of the spectacle of the show.

The cast are all obviously extremely talented triple threats and I’m surprised to see in the programme how young some of them are. They gad about the stage with confidence and their energy is truly infectious.

During the show, I find myself feeling slightly uncomfortable at times. While the movie is rated M in Aotearoa, the heckles and commentary by the cast are definitely R16. It’s a tough one for me to reconcile. In a 2024 context, I feel a bit icky being encouraged to yell “slut” at the screen when Janet Weiss’ name is said. It’s 2024, I thought we retired slut-shaming ages ago? However, it’s also important to remember the context in which the scripted heckles were born – from the people who had slurs shouted at them in the street.

Attending these shadowcast performances and reclaiming the words that were used to make them feel small must have given them a sense of power and control. Overall the show is faithful to its origins; it’s bright, it’s camp, it’s outrageous, and it’s a bloody good night out.   

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