Crowd heckles Rocky Horror Show at OFS

The
Old Fire Station nightclub on George
Street cut short a produc­tion of the rocky Horror
Show on Monday night following rowdiness and complaints from audience members. The show, held on the night of Hal­loween,
was a one-off theatrical club night organised by Carte Blanche, the production
company behind Burlesk. Billed as a “kinky, camp musical club night,” the
production consisted of a film screening, music and a live floor show. Midway through the evening members of the
audience began to heckle the onstage performers. Some approached OFS staff
complaining about the content of the production. The show was not permitted to
per­form the third act, and was pulled off the stage before the second act had
been completed, on the insist­ence of the Old Fire Station staff. One member of the audience, Holly Ware, a
student at St Hilda’s, said that “the crowd got very rowdy and quite violent.
The show was extremely good but it was clear that a lot of people in the
audience didn’t know that the rocky Horror Show was going on and just thought
it was a regular club night.” Following the termination of the rocky
Horror Show perform­ance, the evening continued as an ordinary club night with
music and dancing. The director of the show, Laurie Penny,
said, “We were on the stage when the music cut out, this cheese cut in and we
were told to get off. This was right in the middle a show for which we’d all
worked really hard.” The entry for the special night was five
pounds, and a large majority of the audience had come dressed in the
traditional rocky Horror attire of fishnets and suspender belts. Aspectator
said that “in the end projectiles were being thrown at the stage and the
projector had to be taken down.” Julie Sturgess, speaking on behalf of the
Old Fire Station said, “It wasn’t particularly rowdy. It was a decision on the
behalf or the promoters to pull the show because the majority of customers
seemed to prefer to dance rather than watch the show. The show had been on for
quite a long time already, and it was just cut a little short.” Joey Clark, who played a Transyl­vanian in
the show, said that “it was a shame that a few drunkards spoilt it.” Neil Tarrant, also involved in the
production, explained his feelings saying, “I was just rather upset that the
OFS were responding more to an aggressive minority than to a ma­jority who were
seemingly enjoying the show.” Carte Blanche have experienced a degree of
unfortunate Oxford
scandal in the past over their show Burlesk, which began at Jongleurs during
Hilary term. On the night that a Daily Mail reviewer was present, one
cast member’s nipples were inadvertantly exposed during a striptease. ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005