Review: The Rocky Horror Show

(Image courtesy of The Marlowe Theatre)

19th August 2021

By Elle Summers

Even from standing in the queue, the buzz around The Marlowe Theatre a couple of weeks ago was electric. On the Monday night, hordes of people filled the space outside the theatre, waiting to be ushered through the doors for the opening night of ‘The Rocky Horror Show’. The array of costumes adorned was enough to turn heads, for it was clear that The Marlowe Theatre was the place to be!

With ‘Freedom Day’ having been and gone, the social distancing in the theatre was a not too distant memory, allowing many people to return to the theatre scene. Yet, The Marlowe Theatre are requesting that the audience keep their masks on throughout the performance for safety. As we piled into the theatre, it was bursting at the seams with excited people, all waiting in anticipation for the curtain to lift.

(Image courtesy of The Marlowe Theatre)

From beginning to end the performance was captivating, with the comedy only heightened by the audience participation, chiming in with a well timed heckle, to which the cast responded to seamlessly. Despite this, one particular drunk group from the back insisted on shouting out throughout the performance with unrelated remarks that they all found incredibly hilarious. The rest of the audience, however, was not so impressed! Yet it took until a good way into the second half for a member of staff to request they quieten down.

The cast was made up of a wide variety of people, with Ore Oduba staring as Brad. Whilst many have seen Oduba’s dancing skills on show when he won Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, his singing left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, due to the forced American accent, Oduba could be critiqued for his solo singing performance. On the other end of the spectrum was Kristian Lavercombe who played Riff Raff, a character he has perfected for many years over his acting career, holding the same role in over 1,800 performances. I’m sure there’s little chance of him getting his lines wrong! Philip Franks’ narrator was hilarious, delivering well timed lines with a plethora of up-to-date references, even commenting on Canterbury specific events, such as the open-air performance of the Hound of the Baskerville’s also occurring in town. The actor’s talent was supported by a wonderful set, well put together, with seamless and swift changes, allowing the performance to run smoothly.

(Image courtesy of The Marlowe Theatre)

The end of the performance really made it for me, as the band chimed up once again with the tones of The Time Warp, the entire audience got to their feet to join in with the well-known dance. Upon leaving the theatre there was an obvious buzz remaining amongst all of us. It is very clear that the theatre world is truly back up and running.

Having now left Canterbury to continue with their tour, you can catch ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ across the UK in locations such as Milton Keynes, Nottingham and London. And if you do have the opportunity to, I would highly recommend it, as the performance truly is funny, thrilling and sexually promiscuous – everything you would hope it would be! Click here: Tour | Rocky Horror Show to find out more. If you have the pleasure of seeing this show, or any other performance in The Marlowe Theatre please get in touch through our social media and in the comments below!