“Still the ultimate feel-good night out “
**** 4 Stars
Fifty three years and still going strong, Richard O’Brien’s cult classic tribute to the B Movies with anthemic rock and roll score including hits like “The Timewarp”, “Sweet Transvestite” and “I’m going home” continues to pack lingerie and high heeled clad audiences into theatres around the country for an evening of debauched fun.
The show makes a return visit to the Edinburgh Playhouse exactly a year since its last visit and once again delivers the goods with a thrilling performance with the only problem being that this remains the shortest version ever of the show and it’s now doing those faithful audiences a disservice. Act one comes in at a woeful 41 minutes only and act two is just 45 minutes including the traditional dance along curtain call.
Director Christopher Luscombe has now cut the show to the very bone and the talented cast deliver in spades but at a lighting fast pace it makes the show feel even shorter, us rocky horror fans want more and frankly for the ticket price they deserve it too. For that being said this is still the ultimate feel-good night out that you can have in the theatre and it’s thanks to the sheer brilliant genius of Richard O’Brien writing and the awesome performances from the excellent cast.
Returning to the Horror Show to lead the company, for his only Scottish dates, as Frank N Furter is Jason Donovan who gives a simply divine performance throughout. The Rocky Horror show has been a part of his life since 1998 and he even met his wife through the show, but Donovan has truly grown into the role and brings vigour and camp comedy aplenty to the role and his ability to reference the hedonistic days of the late 90’s is hilarious. Donovan is surely now the elder statesman to play Frank and simply put no ones does the character better than him.
Donovan is joined by a stellar cast including Haley Flaherty “Janet”, Jason Bisp “Brad”, Ryan Carter-Wilson “Riff Raff” all of whom turn in glittering performances that truly capture the heart of the show and the applies to the entire cast. Special mention goes to Jackie Clune in the role of “The Narrator” her years of stand-up comedy are clear to see, and she handles the quips and adlibs from the audience with ease and in truly hilarious style with an adult edge and her pop at President Trump is timely as it is hilarious. Also continuing to shine extra brightly is the gorgeous Morgan Jackson as “Rocky” he excels every time he is on stage regardless of if he is wearing tiny briefs or stockings, suspenders and high heels, his is a triumphant rocky filled with unique charm.
Choreographer Nathan M Wright has ensured every classic dance move is right on stage while making it fresh for a new generation of audiences. This coupled with Christopher Luscombe tight direction ensures the show flies along.
Production wise it’s as excellent as it’s ever been, Hugh Durrant’s set design captures the nostalgia of the piece bringing a nice touch of cinema to the show, and this is boosted by Nick Richings brilliant lighting design. Musically the show really rocks thanks to musical director Adam Smith’s excellent five piece on stage band coupled with Gareth Owen’s sound design ensures every note, lyric and comedy line is heard in the massive auditorium of the playhouse. Sue Blane’s costume design is pitch perfect capturing the shows iconic look with ease and kudos to the men in the company for dawning those very high heels and showing their skills so well.
This is a Rocky Horror which keeps the flame of the original burning brightly and Jason Donovan continues to show why he is the definitive Frank N Furter, but it really is time for some of those cuts and omissions were added back in, in order to deliver real value for money. For now, if you want to start your 2026 with bang then throw your stockings and heels on and head to the playhouse to time warp the night away!
The Rocky Horror Show, The Edinburgh Playhouse, Runs until Saturday 10th January 2026 for additional info and tickets go to: The Rocky Horror Show Tickets | Edinburgh Playhouse in Edinburgh | ATG Tickets
ScotsGay Arts 