Virgins and non-virgins alike came to Kent Stage Jan. 20 as the theater put on its first production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show of the year.
“The Kent Stage had a previous Rocky Horror cast, but they unfortunately disbanded,” Mary Riley, who plays Magenta, a servant for Frank-N-Furter, said. “It was around 2014 that our co-founder reached out to Tom [The Kent Stage owner] and asked if we could start doing the show again. Tom wasn’t convinced, but he did end up winning him over and in November of 2014 that we started.”
The musical follows a couple, Brad and Janet, as they find themselves stranded with a flat tire with only one place in sight, the mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, who is a transvestite scientist and dresses primarily as a woman. While there, the couple loses their innocence in a series of sexual scandals, and Frank-N-Furter reveals his latest creature, a muscular man named Rocky.
“I always describe it as indescribable,” Jackie Schmuch, a team leader, said. “It’s a cultural phenomenon. It is like one of the most unique, fun and freeing experiences and with just the perfect amount of horny.”
The performance is a “shadowcast” show, which means that actors perform on and off stage while the movie plays behind them. The actors lip-sync to the performance, while having props to play with as the movie continues. During the show, audience participation is encouraged as they scream obscenities at the screen, such as calling Janet a “slut” and throwing props like toilet paper.
“We are interacting with people the second they come through our door,” Riley said. “We start off with marking virgins. If you haven’t seen the show before, you get the lovely V on your forehead. Then we go into our reshow, where we do the traditional virgin sacrifice.”
Schmuch said the virgin sacrifice is typically a game or a rally, where the cast slightly humiliates the ‘virgins’ with things such as making them give their best orgasmic moan while they compete to win a prize.
“I credit a lot of my confidence to Rocky Horror,” Schmuch said. “It helped me become more comfortable with my body and it’s a very safe space to just be totally myself. In addition to being a ton of fun, like the most fun thing I’ve ever done.”
The Kent Stage puts on The Rocky Horror Picture Show at least eleven times a year. The theater has performances scheduled for Feb. 17, March 16 and April 19.
Destiny Torres is a digital tech. You can contact her at [email protected].
