The Rocky Horror Show Playhouse Edinburgh 6th January 2026 Review
Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show Tour 2025-26 is at The Playhouse Theatre this week (Tue 06 - Sat 10 January) and for the Rocky Horror fans in the audience tonight, this show was obviously a perfect start to 2026 for them.
The Rocky Horror Show has been around now for over 50 years (first performance 1973), and its story and characters have become over those years well known to millions of people across the world. Tonight, the main cast of Rocky Horror were - Jason Donovan (Frank N Furter), James Bisp (Brad), Haley Flaherty (Janet), Ryan Carter-Wilson (Riff Raff), Laura Bird (Usherette/Magenta), Daisy Steere (Columbia), Morgan Jackson (Rocky), Edward Bullingham (Eddie/Dr Scott) and Jackie Clune as The Narrator.
Jason Donovan has a long history performing the role of Frank N Furter and his return to this show over the last few tours has seen him add a very unique identity to this always complex character. This Frank N Furter is everything that fans of old expect him to be, but Jason's portrayal of someone who is clearly losing their already fragile grasp on reality and sliding into insanity gives this show that little bit of an extra edge, and to be honest it needed that as The Rocky Horror Show at times over the years has at times slipped into "autopilot mode”.
Tonight, James Bisp (Brad) and Haley Flaherty (Janet) were well suited to their respective roles and got the dynamics between not only the two of them but also their entry into Frank N Furter's strange world right, and this is always a delicate balancing act to do.
Over the many years that I have been reviewing this show, it is obvious that Riff Raff is just as popular with the fans as his master Frank N Furter, perhaps even more with some of them, and in the short time that he has been performing this role, Ryan Carter-Wilson is adding his own identity and his own little touches to it, and tonight people were clearly very happy with his performance. Good performances too from Laura Bird and Daisy Steere as Usherette/Magenta and Columbia respectively.
The binding narrative for this story is always provided by The Narrator and this is the one role that can really make or break this show as whoever performs this part has to have the ability to react directly with what the audience shout back at them, and to do this fluidly without breaking up the pace of the show. Here tonight, Jackie Clune obviously had the skills to do this and was well prepared to deal with anything this audience had to say.
The Rocky Horror Show is, of course, a musical, and with iconic songs that include "Sweet Transvestite", "Wild and Untamed Thing" and of course "The Time Warp", pretty much any performance is guaranteed to be, as it was tonight, a hit with the fans. The introduction of Brad's "Once In A While" song has become over the last few years one of my new favourites from this show. As always, the live, but unseen, Rocky Horror Show band adds so much to the magic that is "The Rocky Horror Show".
Review by Tom King (c) 2025.
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
The Rocky Horror Show has been around now for over 50 years (first performance 1973), and its story and characters have become over those years well known to millions of people across the world. Tonight, the main cast of Rocky Horror were - Jason Donovan (Frank N Furter), James Bisp (Brad), Haley Flaherty (Janet), Ryan Carter-Wilson (Riff Raff), Laura Bird (Usherette/Magenta), Daisy Steere (Columbia), Morgan Jackson (Rocky), Edward Bullingham (Eddie/Dr Scott) and Jackie Clune as The Narrator.
Jason Donovan has a long history performing the role of Frank N Furter and his return to this show over the last few tours has seen him add a very unique identity to this always complex character. This Frank N Furter is everything that fans of old expect him to be, but Jason's portrayal of someone who is clearly losing their already fragile grasp on reality and sliding into insanity gives this show that little bit of an extra edge, and to be honest it needed that as The Rocky Horror Show at times over the years has at times slipped into "autopilot mode”.
Tonight, James Bisp (Brad) and Haley Flaherty (Janet) were well suited to their respective roles and got the dynamics between not only the two of them but also their entry into Frank N Furter's strange world right, and this is always a delicate balancing act to do.
Over the many years that I have been reviewing this show, it is obvious that Riff Raff is just as popular with the fans as his master Frank N Furter, perhaps even more with some of them, and in the short time that he has been performing this role, Ryan Carter-Wilson is adding his own identity and his own little touches to it, and tonight people were clearly very happy with his performance. Good performances too from Laura Bird and Daisy Steere as Usherette/Magenta and Columbia respectively.
The binding narrative for this story is always provided by The Narrator and this is the one role that can really make or break this show as whoever performs this part has to have the ability to react directly with what the audience shout back at them, and to do this fluidly without breaking up the pace of the show. Here tonight, Jackie Clune obviously had the skills to do this and was well prepared to deal with anything this audience had to say.
The Rocky Horror Show is, of course, a musical, and with iconic songs that include "Sweet Transvestite", "Wild and Untamed Thing" and of course "The Time Warp", pretty much any performance is guaranteed to be, as it was tonight, a hit with the fans. The introduction of Brad's "Once In A While" song has become over the last few years one of my new favourites from this show. As always, the live, but unseen, Rocky Horror Show band adds so much to the magic that is "The Rocky Horror Show".
Review by Tom King (c) 2025.
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com