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A spirit that is not afraid

The Rocky Horror Picture Show hits The Plains

 The Rocky Horror Picture Show hit The Plains for a one night only performance where Dr. Frank N. Furter and his strange friends threw the Auburn University Theatre into a Time Warp on Nov. 12, 2018.

 To those who have never heard of The Rocky Horror Picture show, the basic plot follows a young engaged couple, Brad and Janet, who’s car breaks down during a storm. They seek refuge in a nearby castle where they try to find a telephone, but are welcomed by a strange array of guests wearing ridiculous costumes and dancing to the iconic “Time Warp” song. 

 The owner of the castle is mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter who is actually an alien transvestite trying to build the perfect man in his laboratory. 

 Auburn’s theatre was transformed for the night with cobweb covered statues, eerie mood lighting, a red velvet couch for picture taking and much more. 

“I like the way everything is set up here and how they had a secret entrance into the building with a glow stick path,” said Emily Gustafson, junior in horticulture at Auburn. 

The entrance into this themed performance was unconventional with nothing but glow sticks to light the dark, rainy path that led behind the theatre building and into a back entrance. Theatre students were dressed in Rocky Horror attire at the secret door, ready to greet guests and sign them in for the costume contest and door prizes.

“I’m looking forward to the murder,” said Diontae Black, senior in musical theatre.

While waiting for the main show to start guests wandered the creepily decorated lobby with a sheet of paper given to them with a list of names and items on it. Every item on the list was scattered throughout the lobby for guests to find and cross off except one. The one that was missing was a hint to who the murderer would be. 

Upon entering, each guest received a brown paper bag filled with a newspaper, several playing cards, a finger light and a party horn. 

“This is my first time seeing the show, so I have no idea what to expect but I think we are supposed to throw things during the show,” said Mallory Waggoner, freshman in theatre tech at Auburn.

This show is so popular due in part to its high level of interactivity during the performance. This is where the items from the paper bag come into play as the audience participates in the show with key words or scenes letting them know when to use each item. 

For those who had never seen the show before, there were instructions in the bag that told the audience things like to blow the party horn when Rocky appeared on stage for the first time or to put the newspaper over your head when Brad and Janet get caught in the rain.

However, the extreme level of interactivity was not always a good thing for this show at Auburn University. According to London Carlisle, who played Dr. Frank N. Furter, the theatre department used to do the show every year for as long as anyone could remember, but it was eventually kicked off of campus because of how crazy the audience would get. 

“There is a lot of audience participation that goes along with the show, and it gets really messy and people would trash the theatre and get wild and belligerent,” said Carlisle. 

The show came back for a time and was performed at Sky Bar until it fizzled out completely around 2013. This past performance was the first time it had been performed at Auburn since then. 

The reaction to the show returning was enthusiastic with people from the community who weren’t even students showing up in full on Rocky Horror costumes. One of the winners of the costume contest was an older woman who came in a vintage wedding dress along with a group of her friends that were all dressed as a character from the show. 

The show ended with announcing prize winners and continuing its element of interactivity by inviting everyone who wanted to join in one last dance of the Time Warp. 

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