The audience roared with applause as the actors took the stage at The Union, 18 W. Union St., ready to perform the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Every year, the Lost Flamingo Theatre Company, or LFC, performs a rendition of Rocky Horror for Athens residents and Ohio University students. This year’s performance was brilliantly directed by senior Raven McClintock.
LFC’s version of Rocky Horror is a shadow performance, meaning the actors perform with a projection of the 1975 cult classic playing in the background.
The show is very immersive for the audience, with actors constantly singing toward and touching audience members to try and engage them in the show’s content. There’s even a part where the actors spray silly string all over the audience.
•Ethan Lowe portrays Dr. Frank-N-Furter. He has been in Rocky Horror for •three years, but this is his •second year portraying the “Sweet Transvestite.”
“Since I joined, the performance has kind of been this self-contained bubble of support and love, considering we have so many different body types and genders and genders switching roles,” Lowe said. “The energy from the crowd matches the energy we give, which creates a connection of love and support that’s rare in musical theatre, but it comes so naturally here and it’s great.”
The actors do give their all to the audience members, but like Lowe said, the audience gives back in heaps with callbacks. Throughout the performance, there are certain callbacks the audience knows to say after or before some lines that add even more humor to the show.
Before the show began, McClintock took the stage to welcome the audience. She started off the night by inviting all of the Rocky Horror “virgins,” or first timers to the show, to come up to the stage and play a few games.
Each game involved couples. The first game required one person to put a condom on a banana the other person was holding, using only their mouth. The second game required the couples to eat a Twizzler until they met in the middle, and then they had to makeout. The •third game had one person holding an oatmeal pie while the other person had to eat it, and the •last game had different women simulate an orgasm, and the audience voted on who did it best.
Lauren Wise, a junior studying biology, saw the show for the first time at the recommendation from a friend.
“It was really fun,” Wise said. “I love the atmosphere, it was so energetic, and I love the different people and body sizes.”
After the “virgin’s games” were finished, the show began. Each actor was barely •covered from head to toe in lingerie, bustiers and a plethora of fishnet tights. For being on a relatively small stage, the choreography was perfectly executed and the live actors mimicked the film actors to a tee.
The show possessed limited space and props, but still managed to be one of the most exciting shows yet for newcomers and for Rocky Horror audience veterans.
Aleyna Dragonette, a junior studying early childhood education, is no stranger to attending Rocky Horror, as she was seeing the show for her third time.
“It has become a tradition for my friends every October to go see it,” Dragonette said. “There’s such a fun vibe and singing along to the songs with other Rocky Horror fans is the best feeling. Everyone should definitely try to make it to a show.”
Lowe hopes people have a fun time with the music and seeing the show, but also hopes people take a minute to acknowledge the message of acceptance and self-love by feeling confident with themselves.
“Even if they don’t think they’re something to be coveted, I hope they take away that we showcase that they are coveted, and people who don’t think they are sexy, we want to make them feel that way through body positivity and acceptance,” Lowe said.
