Rocky Horror Show Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 20th January 2025 Review
The Rocky Horror Show is at the Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh (Mon 20 – Sat 25 January) and as to be expected the fans were out in big numbers for their trip into “The Time Warp”.
As with any production of this show, it is in the end always going to be who is performing the role of Frank N Furter that makes or breaks it, and just in case you have not seen the advertising for the show, for this one that is Australian music, theatre, film and television superstar Jason Donovan who is after some 25 years reprising this role which he first performed in the 1998 25th anniversary show tour.
Jason Donovan clearly understands who Frank N Furter is and who he is not, and although that might seem a simple thing to do, surprisingly few performers have got this one right over the years. Jason’s take on the man is not some sort of camp gay stereotype, but someone who will take their pleasures where and when he finds them. There was also tonight that much needed touch of insanity and fragility to this now iconic figure.
To be able to deliver Frank N Furter to an audience, the performer has to be very comfortable up there on stage in their fishnet stockings, best underwear and high heels, very confident in their own skin and simply want to be there in front of an audience. Jason Donovan has all of these qualities as well as the vocals to do these classic songs justice plus the stage experience necessary to make little changes to the script as he interacts with the audience look as if it was all planned.
In this show, you are either a Frankie fan or a Riff Raff one, and it was good to see Job Greuter making some subtle changes to this character that made it his own take on it. Riff Raff is really the driving force in this story, the one who keeps the narrative running from beginning to end and also sets up so many of the scenes for Frank N Furter. The two have to work together in this show and it was obvious that Job and Jason were having a lot of fun together with their characters on stage tonight.
All too often forgotten is the role of the Narrator in this show. He is the connection to the audience and the one who has to run with most of the audience participation call outs. For this show tonight, Nathan Caton was impressive in this role and his background in stand-up comedy was obviously working to his advantage here.
Let’s not forget of course our naïve star crossed (or is that star cursed) duo Brad and Janet. A pretty much perfect casting here with Connor Carson and Lauren Chia who ticked all the right vocal and performance boxes for this audience whilst dealing with the to be expected call outs.
This was a very good cast for this show and Natasha Hoeberigs (Usherette/Magenta), Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli (Columbia), Morgan Jackson (Rocky), Edward Bullingham (Eddie/Dr Scott) and the Phantoms all making this an “Night to Remember” for this audience.
It is a little ironic that a show that is at its heart a nostalgic look back at some of the great B movies of yesteryears in 1973 is now over 50 years later a part of nostalgia itself, and there are more than a few moments where this show is now showing its age, but who cares when it has songs like “Time Warp”, “Sweet Transvestite” and “Rose Tint My World” in it?
If there is any downside to The Rocky Horror show these days it is that for some reason the audiences have become a little more restrained over the years and we desperately need some new and relevant audience call outs. This show has also seen more than a few revisions over the years which have led to perhaps a little too much pruning of some show elements. A first half running time of just over 40 minutes did feel a little bit short this evening, as did wrapping up the whole show in a little under two hours including an interval and end of show song reprise. Still, despite this, no one in the audience seemed to be unhappy as this was as always just a friendly and feel-good show to be at, pure entertainment and there is nothing wrong with that.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
As with any production of this show, it is in the end always going to be who is performing the role of Frank N Furter that makes or breaks it, and just in case you have not seen the advertising for the show, for this one that is Australian music, theatre, film and television superstar Jason Donovan who is after some 25 years reprising this role which he first performed in the 1998 25th anniversary show tour.
Jason Donovan clearly understands who Frank N Furter is and who he is not, and although that might seem a simple thing to do, surprisingly few performers have got this one right over the years. Jason’s take on the man is not some sort of camp gay stereotype, but someone who will take their pleasures where and when he finds them. There was also tonight that much needed touch of insanity and fragility to this now iconic figure.
To be able to deliver Frank N Furter to an audience, the performer has to be very comfortable up there on stage in their fishnet stockings, best underwear and high heels, very confident in their own skin and simply want to be there in front of an audience. Jason Donovan has all of these qualities as well as the vocals to do these classic songs justice plus the stage experience necessary to make little changes to the script as he interacts with the audience look as if it was all planned.
In this show, you are either a Frankie fan or a Riff Raff one, and it was good to see Job Greuter making some subtle changes to this character that made it his own take on it. Riff Raff is really the driving force in this story, the one who keeps the narrative running from beginning to end and also sets up so many of the scenes for Frank N Furter. The two have to work together in this show and it was obvious that Job and Jason were having a lot of fun together with their characters on stage tonight.
All too often forgotten is the role of the Narrator in this show. He is the connection to the audience and the one who has to run with most of the audience participation call outs. For this show tonight, Nathan Caton was impressive in this role and his background in stand-up comedy was obviously working to his advantage here.
Let’s not forget of course our naïve star crossed (or is that star cursed) duo Brad and Janet. A pretty much perfect casting here with Connor Carson and Lauren Chia who ticked all the right vocal and performance boxes for this audience whilst dealing with the to be expected call outs.
This was a very good cast for this show and Natasha Hoeberigs (Usherette/Magenta), Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli (Columbia), Morgan Jackson (Rocky), Edward Bullingham (Eddie/Dr Scott) and the Phantoms all making this an “Night to Remember” for this audience.
It is a little ironic that a show that is at its heart a nostalgic look back at some of the great B movies of yesteryears in 1973 is now over 50 years later a part of nostalgia itself, and there are more than a few moments where this show is now showing its age, but who cares when it has songs like “Time Warp”, “Sweet Transvestite” and “Rose Tint My World” in it?
If there is any downside to The Rocky Horror show these days it is that for some reason the audiences have become a little more restrained over the years and we desperately need some new and relevant audience call outs. This show has also seen more than a few revisions over the years which have led to perhaps a little too much pruning of some show elements. A first half running time of just over 40 minutes did feel a little bit short this evening, as did wrapping up the whole show in a little under two hours including an interval and end of show song reprise. Still, despite this, no one in the audience seemed to be unhappy as this was as always just a friendly and feel-good show to be at, pure entertainment and there is nothing wrong with that.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com