First-time audience members entered the Shippensburg University Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday and were marked with a bright pink “V” on their foreheads with lipstick — others entered unmarked, knowing exactly what they came for.
Regardless of whether viewers saw an SU Act V Co. performance before, all were about to experience the comedy, tragedy and passion of its take on “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
The cast strayed from normality by shadow-casting and lip-syncing to the movie that was playing in the background.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” story followed Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple who were stranded along a road in the middle of nowhere during a rainstorm. The couple was sucked into action as they were taken in by the occupants of a nearby castle. Chaos and kinky pleasure ensued as the group encountered all sorts of horrific, erotic and hilarious scenarios.
The Act V performance capitalized on audience interaction. Frank chased Rocky down the aisles and dancers strutted to and from audience members, dancing flirtatiously.
Whenever someone on stage said “Janet,” the audience members shouted “Sl*t!” And whenever Brad’s name was mentioned, the audience gleefully replied “A**hole!” Sometimes, the audience acted on their own volition to shout whatever they pleased.
The audience had a lot of fun with the show, and so did the actors.
SU junior Nick McKim, who played Dr. Frank N. Furter in the show, said his favorite scene was “My first one: Sweet Transvestite.”
“That big reveal, and the feedback from the audience was awesome,” McKim said. “I’ve never felt such a great cheer of applause. It gave me goosebumps.”
McKim also confessed that playing a Sweet Transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania, had its challenges, particularly during the sex scenes.
“Those were hard because my parents came,” McKim said. “Knowing the fact that obviously we weren’t doing anything back there [and] getting more comfortable with that helped.”
Maggie Haynes, director of the production and SU sophomore, said she was proud of her cast and crew for making it one of the most enjoyable performances she had in a while. Haynes was most proud of the actor’s energy on stage and their ability to improvise and think on the spot while performing.
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