Bucks &amp; Oxon

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="2250" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/5.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg" alt="Adam Strong dressed in red corset singing on stage" class="wp-image-187526" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/5.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/5.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-533x800.jpg 533w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/5.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-667x1000.jpg 667w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/5.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-267x400.jpg 267w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/5.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/5.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-1365x2048.jpg 1365w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



They said there’d be rude bits, and reader, they delivered. <a href="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-rocky-horror-show/new-theatre-oxford/">The Rocky Horror Show</a>has hit the road once again in full throttle with a brand spanking new cast (emphasis on the spank), and I hot-footed it to the Oxford leg of the tour to see if this legendary bash still brings the bang. Spoiler alert: it absolutely does.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="959" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/2.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg" alt="Rocky Horror Show performers on stage" class="wp-image-187523" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/2.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/2.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-800x511.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/2.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-1000x639.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/2.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-400x256.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



For the uninitiated (and there cannot, by now, be many), this gleefully bonkers musical has been warping minds and tickling tail feathers since 1973 when it first kicked off in a 63-seat theatre at the Royal Court. Part sci-fi spoof, part glam rock gig, and all-round madcap party, The Rocky Horror Show tells the tale of squeaky-clean couple Brad and Janet whose car trouble leads them into the mysterious, corset-clad clutches of flamboyant, pansexual mad scientist Dr. Frank’n’Furter and his crew of fabulous misfits. Upon meeting the open-mouthed pair, he is irresistible from the off, half purring, half snarling his tantalising intentions: ‘I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey.’ Cue chaos. Cue sequins. Cue pelvic thrusts aplenty.



Taking centre stage – and quite frankly owning it – is the ravishing Adam Strong as Frank’n’Furter. A touring musical theatre regular (most recently as Jafar’ in ‘Disney’s Aladdin’ UK &amp; Ireland tour), his Rocky debut is assured and seductive &#8211; he struts, purrs and preens with the perfect cocktail of menace and magnetism. You can almost hear the audience swoon through their feather boas.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/3.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg" alt="Rocky Horror Show performers stood closely next to each other on stage one pretending to be a surgeon" class="wp-image-187524" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/3.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/3.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/3.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/3.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



Meanwhile, Connor Carson and Lauren Chia are our hapless Brad and Janet – note-perfect and wide-eyed, they’re the perfect straight-laced, if corruptible, foil to the madness around them. Upon walking into Frank N Furter’s castle, Brad reassures Janet that they’re most likely in a hunting lodge of a weird and rich. Well, Brad, it is a hunting lodge – of sorts, but not the kind he’s picturing. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/14.-L-R_-Lauren-Chia-Janet-Connor-Carson-Brad.-Photo-Credit-David-Freeman.jpg" alt="performers in green car on stage for Rocky Horror Show performance" class="wp-image-187528" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/14.-L-R_-Lauren-Chia-Janet-Connor-Carson-Brad.-Photo-Credit-David-Freeman.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/14.-L-R_-Lauren-Chia-Janet-Connor-Carson-Brad.-Photo-Credit-David-Freeman-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/14.-L-R_-Lauren-Chia-Janet-Connor-Carson-Brad.-Photo-Credit-David-Freeman-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/14.-L-R_-Lauren-Chia-Janet-Connor-Carson-Brad.-Photo-Credit-David-Freeman-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Connor Carson and Lauren Chia as Brad and Janet </figcaption></figure>



And speaking of madness: Job Greuter’s Riff Raff is deliciously creepy, Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli’s Columbia is an utter firecracker, and Natasha Hoeberigs pulls double duty as Magenta and the Usherette with impressive range (and very impressive eye shadow).



But one of the biggest surprises? Jackie Clune (yes, she of eye-rolling Motherland school secretary fame) brings double entendre-laden charm and razor-sharp wit as the Narrator. Her comic timing is immaculate, with a delivery drier than a Martini in a desert. And, as a reminder that this show moves with the times, she sets out her stall with some perfectly pitched au courant allusions. The Maga Movement’s mission? Why, ‘to make America gay again’, of course. Meanwhile, Elon Musk and Prince Andrew too come in for a thrust of the knife (or is that the pelvis?) – as does her own career, as she informs a whooping audience that she’d have been a dead-cert for the middle-aged series of Love Island, if only it hadn’t been for that pesky prolapse.



And then, of course, there’s the call-and-response, the outrageous dressing-up (audience and cast), and the kind of atmosphere you just don’t get at your average night at the theatre. The audience is really another character in this show, with some of the more seasoned fans on as intimate terms with the script as any cast member, offering up volleys of on-point heckles and one-liners to prove it. Think less polite applause, more glitter-fuelled carnival with occasional corsets flying past your head.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/4.Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg" alt="Adam Strong dressed in black leather sat on red sofa with other performers" class="wp-image-187525" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/4.Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/4.Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/4.Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/4.Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



Submitting wholly to the carnal feast –&nbsp;there is, after all, ‘no crime in giving yourself over to pleasure’ –&nbsp;it is extraordinary to reflect on the journey of this phenomenon, which has, over 52 years, racked up tens of millions of fans across 30 countries. What was once a shocking underground hit is now a beloved rite of passage –&nbsp;proof, if ever it were needed, that subversion can become a sparkling, mainstream institution.



With Christopher Luscombe, whose production has been running for 19 years, in the director’s seat and that iconic score bursting through the speakers – from Sweet Transvestite to the mighty Time Warp – it’s a turbo-charged nostalgia hit, but still as gloriously off-the-wall and relevant as ever. Five decades on, this love letter to B-movie kitsch has not so much aged as bedazzled itself.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/1.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg" alt="Adam Strong performing and singing on stage" class="wp-image-187522" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/1.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/1.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-800x546.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/1.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-1000x683.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/1.-Adam-Strong-Frank-n-Furter-Photo-credit-David-Freeman-400x273.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



If you’re new to the Rocky cult, the plot’s delightful absurdity might feel chaotic, but lean into the madness –&nbsp;this show thrives on its unpolished edge. Some purists might miss the raw grit of earlier productions, but this polished touring version still packs plenty of punch. Whether it’s your first time or your fiftieth, The Rocky Horror Show remains a wild, wonderful, and wicked night out.



Just maybe don’t bring Granny. Or do – chances are she was thrusting with the best of them back in ’75.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



Good for: Fans of high camp, chaos and cult classics; date nights with a difference; a birthday night out to remember (or partly forget). A riotous, rude, and ridiculously fun night out. The Rocky Horror Picture Show proves it’s still the boldest bash around, even after 50 years. Remember: don’t dream it – be it.



Not for: If you have a horror of audience participation, dancing The Time Warp or risqué innuendo, it’s best avoided. But then you probably knew that already. Oh, and do note, it’s not for the under 14s (see the aforementioned naughty bits).



£££: From around £10 – a total bargain for a night that will leave you grinning, as well as pleasurably scandalised.



<a href="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-rocky-horror-show/new-theatre-oxford/">The Rocky Horror Show</a> is at New Theatre, George Street, Oxford, OX1 2AG until Saturday 26April. <a href="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-rocky-horror-show/new-theatre-oxford/calendar/">Buy tickets</a>



Words: Nancy Alsop



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Review: The Rocky Horror Show at New Theatre, Oxford

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