Mensans Get Rocky
On Saturday 17th May locals were treated to the sight of a bunch of Mensans parading the streets of Nottingham dressed in basques, stockings and suspenders - and that was just the fellas!! Yes, the 30th anniversary tour of the Rocky Horror Show was in town.
Half our group met at my house beforehand to get ready because we figured there was safety in numbers! We amused passing motorists driving into the city and were some of the first theatre-goers to enter the auditorium in preparation to laugh at/admire everyone else's costumes. Strangely enough there were some people in the stalls without costume but we soon discovered the reason. And also the reason why, even though getting our tickets 15 minutes after box office bookings had opened and quoting the special code from the official Rocky web site ("Can't wait to get naughty in Nottingham" - yes, really!) we only managed to get the 8th and 9th rows rather than the front row. That afternoon a couple had actually had a Rocky Horror themed wedding on stage at the Theatre Royal, so the first rows were occupied by their wedding guests! [No, Andy, don't go getting ideas for our wedding!]
I think our group did us proud with a variety of costumes. Giles Metcalf was dressed as 'Janet' (yes, seeing was believing!), Lynn Faulkner and Merry Metcalf dressed as 'Columbia' in both her disguises, Mark Graves, Janet Nelson and Geoff Kay all wore their excellent Transylvanian alien costumes, I dressed as Trixie the Usherette and Andy Farrell, Mark Sloan, Gordon Pearson and Adrian Parkinson enjoyed showing off their physique dressed as 'Frank'n'Furter'. Rather worryingly some of the guys declared their outfit was quite comfortable to wear. Though Adrian struggled to walk in his new stiletto heels! Even the Rocky 'virgins' did their best to look vampish.
The show was, of course, great fun and we managed to sneak in water pistols and other props which are usually banned at that theatre. Plus we got to dance the Time Warp not twice but three times! After the show and a photo call outside the theatre - where complete strangers were taking our photo too! - Sarah Fletcher took a few people off to scare the punters in Pizza Hut whilst the rest of us headed back to my house for a party. Having not eaten much before the show, the party food was soon devoured and then the serious drinking began. In the best party tradition I'd invited my neighbours so they couldn't complain about the noise. So amongst the guests was a 16-year-old armed with camera who wanted to take photos of us all in costume for her GCSE photography project. Hmm, not at all like my school days!! The party ended around 2.30 am with the die-hards emptying the whisky cabinet and demanding just one last Time Warp. A great party, but we did pay for it the following morning. It was decided I should be the one to drive us out for Sunday lunch as a) I was the least likely to fail a breathalyser test and b) I didn't have a headache!
Maxine Bates