Heya everyone, hope you're loving all this sunny English weather...and to
those of you who aren't English, hope you're having great weather too! So my
last theatre trip was a road trip down to Cardiff, with my friend Ellie and her
friend Mandy (who is really nice as well), to see Rocky Horror again.
To put things in perspective I live in Lincolnshire (East Midlands) so am
about 200miles away from Cardiff...crazy right!!! Well, after some crazy
singing, a few wrong turns, a car boot that wouldn't open and a pit stop to buy
and fill up with windscreen washer fluid we arrived at the Travelodge in
boiling hot Wales! We then relaxed for a bit before grabbing a bite to eat at
the conveniently placed Weatherspoons next door before donning our outfits and
heading off to the theatre.
Now I have been to see Rocky Horror three times already (please click here
the locations to view: Grimsby, Cambridge and Manchester) so I've decided to do this review a little bit
differently. I will start, however, with the few differences from the last time
I went...
The differences with this performance were that Rhydian from the X Factor
was playing Rocky. He actually surprised me in being a better than I had
expected him to be.
The theatre was, also, a bit smaller than Manchester (and had ridiculously
too few ladies loos...I know most theatres don't have many but this was simply
crazy!) and I was a bit disappointed by the atmosphere...I mean the cast were
still on fire and Oliver Thornton was still perfection in motion but the
audience weren't quite as hyper as they had been when I saw the show at Manchester...although
this could be seen as a good thing as it meant I could practice my shouting
out..."Just one big one!".
However, what I really wanted to talk about in this blog is the message of
Rocky Horror. I think I may have skimmed over this briefly in past reviews but
I'd like to go into a bit more depth...please prepare for me to go full drama
nerd! Oh and, also, be warned there are some MAJOR SPOILERS...if you don't want
to know the plot it's probably best if you stop reading now!
For the majority of the show it would appear that there isn't really a
message and that the show is just fun...well I suppose the whole show may
appear like this to some. However, as it says in my bio at the side I study
drama at uni and, anyway, I always like to look into a show to see what meaning
can be taken from it and applied to the my everyday life...maybe I look too
deeply into these things but I really do think theatre is there to teach people
things (please click here to see my blog on this).
To start off let's take Brad and Janet, two seemingly normally young adults
who seem to come out of a time of innocence where everyone was nice and
weddings and your woman cooking tea were all that mattered. These two then get
corrupted into a world if debauchery and sexual pleasure when their car breaks
down and they decide to try the castle down the road for a phone. To me, Brad
and Janet seem to portray how easily innocence can be corrupted and suggest
that being a bit worldly wise about the constantly changing world (rather than
sticking your head in the sand) can save you from corruption...after all look
at Riff Raff, Magenta and Dr Scott.
The three characters previously mentioned all demonstrate some knowledge of
the world and the corruption that goes on in it yet none appear to fully
succumb to it. Riff Raff and Magenta act along with Frank and his life of
overindulgence and sexual pleasure yet we never see them in any sort of sexual
manner. And it is suggested (despite his German twinges) that Dr Scott has been
sent to by a government to put a stop to Frank's way of life and to end the
corruption that takes place in the castle. By the end of the play these are the
only three characters who have not changed for the worst which to me can be
surmised to be because of the fact that they know of the corruption that goes
on in the world but do not fully enter into it.
And then we come to the most interesting character in the show...Frank, the
main man himself; the epitome of corruption. Frank lives a life of sexual
indulgence and expects everyone to bow before him. I always love to hear
Columbia's line to him, "You chew people up and then you spit them out
again...You're like a sponge. You take, take, take, and drain others of their
love and emotion." as it just sums up the character of Frank; the only
person he cares about is himself. It is because of this corruption, self-indulgence
and caring only for himself that Frank ends up dead. To me this can teach
people a lot particularly when combined with the fact that Columbia dies because
she cares too much about someone who only cares for them self...in this world
there is a fine balance that will lead to survival and happiness which involves
sometimes putting others before yourself but making sure that those who you do
would do the same for you...we can't go around treating people like dirt
because all too soon we'll look around as see that there's no one there to
really care for us.
So there is a great deal that can be taken from this supposedly 'just for
fun' show. I don't know whether you'll agree with it all, maybe you'll have
found something different in it, but this is my opinion and what I get from
it.
I'll leave you with two things...a picture from my trip (and yes I've
dressed up...there's nothing wrong with having fun at Rocky Horror, it's just,
in my opinion, there's a bit more to it than that)...and a quote from the show
for you to ponder, "And crawling on the planet's face, some insects called
the human race. Lost in time. And lost in space, and meaning.".
Me Outside the Theatre
I hope you enjoyed reading my views, as mentioned they are just my
opinions...but I'd love to hear what you get out of the show. Please either
comment below or tweet me at @GreenGirlsRox.
Love
Kat
Xx
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