Darlington Hippodrome – until Saturday 5 April 2025
Reviewed by Adam Craddock
4****
Tonight I took a jump to the left and a step to the Darlington Hippodrome to catch the latest leg of Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show”, starring Adam Strong as the legendary Dr Frank N Furter and Jackie Clune as The Narrator, the first time I have actually seen a woman in the part myself!
Strong was… well, strong as Frank N Furter, with a delicious vocal that blew other Franks I have seen out of the water on this front and a brilliant drag energy to the character, although sometimes slightly lacking some of that sexuality and perviness that we have come to expect from Frank over the years. This was particularly noticeable when Frank created Rocky, with there being no noticeable lust for his new creation. Clune was brilliant as The Narrator, with a dry wit and command of her audience second to none in a particularly rowdy Darlington crowd. Her quote of “Make America gay again… that’s what MAGA stand for right?” Particularly got me!
Lauren Chia was fabulous as Janet. Her non verbal storytelling in scenes like the “birth” of Rocky were brilliant, with this clearly being the start of her turn to the dark side (wink). It was also an absolute pleasure to catch understudy Alex Hetherington as Brad. Hetherington had a brilliant all American air about his Brad, with just the right balance of nerdiness and old fashioned machismo when needed.
Job Greuter was solid as Riff Raff, with a mighty impressive vocal and some brilliant physical comedy skills. Natasha Hoeberigs was strong as Usherette/Magenta, showcasing her range in abilities with two very different characters and a brilliant twangy vocal in the shows opener “Science Fiction Double Feature”. Edward Bullingham was good as Eddie/Dr Scott, as we’re Morgan Jackson and Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli as Rocky and Colombia respectively, with Zanoncelli really showing off her acting chops at the end when she gets gassed, this really got a giggle out of me! The ensemble too were very strong and consistent throughout.
The sound and lighting design for the theatre were both good, with a noticeable improvement in the sound quality from when I last saw The Rocky Horror Show in Sheffield, no longer was I struggling to hear the words to songs!
All in all, I had an absolutely fantastic evening and while there was things that were perhaps more of a personal preference to be done differently at times, I would 100% recommend catching The Rocky Horror Show while you can at Darlington Hippodrome. The Show is in town until Saturday 5th April and is not to be missed at all!