The Canberra Theatre, August 3 and 4. 8.30pm; August 5. 9pm and mid night. August 6, 6 and 9pm. Professional Production.
A HUGE crowd hopped into a time warp at the Canberra Theatre last night for a return to the 1970s cult musical The Rocky Horror Show. Originally associated with the Australian director Jim Sharman, whose London production started the craze, Australia first saw the show peopled by stars such as Reg Livermore, Jane Harders and Arthur Dignam, whose electricity took what could have been a low-camp evening in the theatre into a different dimension.
It is hardly necessary for me to tell readers that the star of the piece, long since known universally through The Rocky Horror Picture Show, is the mysterious transsexual from Transylvania, Dr Frank N. Furter, and that his assaults on the dreary' suburban sensibilities of all-American Brad and Janet forms the main part of the evening's activities. But this new Australian production, on its way around the country with much noise and lighting, makes his assault obvious and sadistic with a display of groping and lip-licking which seems to belong in a different performance venue than a theatre. To be sure, much of the audience loved it, and danced in the aisles from the outset. The dressing-up in corscts, mesh-stockings and frilly aprons which has become a hallmark of Rocky Horror productions quite transformed the tasteful grey atmosphere of the Canberra Theatre, and the shrieks of recognition at lines, songs and even moves showed that this play has long since bccome a phenomenon rather than a normal dramatic experience. The spectacular lighting, and a sensational attack on the audience's eyes and ears as the outer-space creatures take off for parts more interesting, kept us watching. But it should not be forgotten that this is still a play, demanding some level of belief from the audience. Simon Westaway as Frank seemed to lack conviction, turning his character into a somewhat bumbling libertine, and in the first part of the evening at least Ann Wilson and Andrew Binns as the mild-mannered Janet and Brad gave little. By the end, when complete abandon held the stage - "give yourself over to absolute pleasure, says Frank - all cast members seemed to have loosened up more. Bernard King, playing to a very different audience from his usual culinary one as the narrator, often found himself at a loss with the rowdy and raucous audience, resorting to some unfortunate cracks about the Haydens and the Iron Lady to buy time around interjections. Suited though his voice is to the narration of "creature feature" stories, he could not muster the large theatre skills necessary to command and even interfere with the events on stage. Vocally, Janet and Russell Crowe gave us the greatest clarity. As for the rest, including Frank, if the lyrics had not been so familiar it would have been quite impossible to work out what was happening, so uneven was the balance of instrument with voice. Since the Show essentially moves from number to number, this became a serious problem for the uninitiated. It will be a long time before the Canberra Theatre sees walking gargoyles, Quasimodos and people baaing like sheep in the foyer as they did on this occasion. Certainly the Rocky Horror regulars were not to be deterred from enjoying them selves, and for the rest of us it was an experience of a rare theatrical kind. |
