Song, dance and chaos with a good dose of glitter

It's not often you see a theater audience dancing in the middle of a performance, but when I saw The Rocky Horror Show at the Central Theater, I was drawn into a world where everything was allowed and everything was in bright colors. I entered the hall expecting a cheeky musical show and left with the feeling of having been thrown into a time machine, a party, and a horror movie all at once. 

The popular play was written by Richard O'Brien, translated by Ole Paus and updated by Ilene Sørbøe. The Rocky Horror Show premiered in London in 1973. O'Brien played the narrator in the original production and mixed rock music, horror film parodies and a good dose of sex and humor into one and the same play. The show became a cult classic almost overnight. In 1975 it was adapted into a film as The Rocky Horror Picture Show . The film still has midnight screenings around the world, often with the audience dressed in fishnet stockings and corsets. 

The story begins seemingly innocently with the prim and proper newly engaged couple Brad and Janet who get into car trouble and seek shelter in a mysterious castle. There they meet the charismatic, sexually liberated and boundless Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his assistants. At that moment, all conventions are thrown out the window. The plot is both an homage to and a parody of classic science fiction and horror films: laboratories, lightning strikes, creatures brought to life. But where Frankenstein wanted to create a monster, Frank-N-Furter creates a beautiful, body-obsessed and muscular man named Rocky. The rest of the play is a feast of seduction, shock, absurd twists and musical numbers.

Seeing this at Oslo Nye Teater was an experience in itself, especially given the political situation the theater is in. The theater has been the subject of debate over the past year, when the Oslo City Council cut support for Oslo Nye by 37.5 million for 2025. Outside the doors of the Central Theater hangs a sign that says “closed,” alluding to the city council’s budget cuts. When I entered the hall, I also got the feeling of entering a closed theater. There was little on the stage, some of the railings were worn and the seats were old. This was in contrast to the music, the lights, and the colorful spectacle I had in store.

All the volume buttons are turned up to max: the music is pounding, the lights are flashing. Dressed in glitter, corsets and dramatic make-up, Dr. Frank-N-Furter and co are so over the top that they almost parody themselves. It's deliberately tacky and camp, but that's exactly what makes the play so much fun. As a theatrical experience, this is a reminder of how liberating the performing arts can be when it doesn't try to be respectable. The Rocky Horror Show isn't trying to be elegant or intellectual. It's trying to shock, entertain and celebrate the weird, the queer and the exaggerated. It functions both as a mockery of old horror clichés and as a sincere defense of the right to be different.

You quickly realize that The Rocky Horror Show isn't about sitting still and nodding politely - it's about participating, about giving in to the madness. We were encouraged in advance to bring water guns, confetti and to dress up. On several occasions, the audience is part of the play. In the first act, we were instructed to shout “Asshole” to Brad and “Slut” to Janet. In the second act, we threw cards at Frank N Furter when they sang “I'm going home.” I've never experienced this type of audience participation before, but it was definitely one of the highlights of the evening.

During the performance, I had to cover my eyes several times out of embarrassment and shyness. Dr. Frank-N-Furte's sidekick, Riff Raff, suddenly stood without clothes, and another sidekick, Colombia, had comical and iconic outbursts of dancing and screaming. The whole piece felt like a fever dream I will never forget. 

Of course, not everything is equally good. The plot is so chaotic that it's easy to lose track. With a running time of 2 hours and 30 minutes including intermission, there's a lot going on and a lot to keep track of. Along the way, you lose some connections, such as Dr. Scott's place in the play. Why were Brad and Janet on their way to see him, and what kind of doctor is he? But maybe that's the point in a way? You don't come to see a tight plot. You come to be swept into a wild, glittering tornado where sex, power and desire are thrown around. 

Another challenge was the language barrier in the songs. Different dialects, the switch from Norwegian to English, then English to Norwegian, then Swedish and Northern Norwegian dialect? This made it difficult to understand everything that was sung. If they had stuck to one language, the musical would have been seamless in my opinion.

There are divided opinions about this version of the musical. The Rocky Horror Show has long been an important work of art for the LGBTQ+ community worldwide, but some believe that the 2025 production does not reflect this. In Aftenposten, critic Nazneen Khan-Østrem writes: “It is possible that Riipinen intended the play to function as a kind of breathing space in a tested world. But it flips over and becomes a harmless party.” Khan-Østrem points out that Riipinen has toned down the devilish violence and rebellion, and that the performance loses the political nerve that made the play so groundbreaking in 1973. I have to both agree and disagree with these opinions. 

The theme of being different is well represented in the play, but if Riipinen were to include the seriousness that some were looking for, I'm afraid the play would have boiled down to another story about the LGBTQ+ community. True, we are in a time where there are still arguments about norms, identity and freedom. And not only are there arguments. Queer people are killed for who they are, and it is incredibly sad. It is of course very important to acknowledge this, and especially in the performing arts, but in my opinion it is not necessary for The Rocky Horror Show. LGBTQ+ is not necessarily the point of the play. 

Minorities should be able to be portrayed in ways other than just pain and tragedy. Even though there is discrimination, hate, and racism, we must be able to portray minorities in a different light. That is why The Rocky Horror Show is important. The play shows LGBTQ+ in a fun and fresh way, without it being the highlight of the plot. The musical is a reminder that the stage has always been a place for the untamed and transgressive, and a place where minorities do not need to be reminded of the eternal debate about their existence. I agree that Rocky Horror was a party, but there is nothing wrong with that. 

I left the hall feeling like I had been part of something more than just a performance. It was a celebration with my heart in the right place. You can close your eyes during the performance if you have to, but you can't stay out of the party.