Shock Treatment: The Musical (Kings Head Theatre, Islington)

You'll find Happy Hearts, and Smiling Faces, and tolerance for the ethnic races... in Denton
 

I have to admit, and it's never been a particularly popular opinion. But I've always loved Shock Treatment. The critical and commercial flop, fresh from the pulsating brain of Richard O'Brien, was a 1981 movie, and a sequel to the phenomenon that is The Rocky Horror Show.

Richard O'Brien's pulsating brain cage

Shock Treatment was awkward at times, sometimes with a hard to follow narrative and characters with questionable motivation. But boy, the songs. The songs, the songs, the songs. It was no Rocky Horror, but 'Shocky', as fans often affectionately refer to it, had it's heart in the right place. The budget may have been slashed so much it could hardly breathe, causing scripting and cast changes along the way, but when it got it right, it got it.... RIGHT.

Looks like they're having fun

But what gets it right, right, RIGHHHHHHHHTTTTTTT, is the new stage production currently running in the Kings Head Pub/Theatre in Islington.

Long have I dreamed and fantasied about someone, somewhere (well, preferably somewhere near where I lived) adapting this unloved and ostracised musical into a stage production. I wet myself on hearing the news (I'm always wet), and my doting Londoner BFF snapped up some tickets for me as a surprise present. After making the trek from Cardiff to London, I can say it was absolutely worth it.... with sparkly gold bells on.

Spearheaded by Richard O'Brien himself, and with the sick and twisted mind of director Benji Sperring at the helm, Shock Treatment:The Stage Show does not disappoint.

Well, helllooooooo!

Streamlining the storyline and cutting out the excess fat, Shock Treatment tells the simple and straightforward story of a married couple, Brad & Janet (Ben Kerr & Julie Atherton), who find themselves on a reality TV show that helps heal rocky relationships. For (reasons) this involves whisking Brad off to have some severe therapy, rather, Shock Treatment, as part of another reality tv show. And (reasons) Janet having a super sexy makeover (involving a Little Black Dress). The aforementioned reasons mainly being that station owner, hardcore capitalist Rupert Murdo- uh, Farley Flavours (Mark Little - Ozzie Everyman Joe Mangle from Neighbours), has plans for his shows to be the most watched TV shows evah in the history of television.

Mark Little looks frazzled

Mark Little is a revelation - I have to admit, I've only ever known him as Joe Mangle, and errr, himself (from his stints hosting the Big Breakfast) - so was completely unaware of his theatre credentials. Little doesn't have the best singing voice, so at times settles for talking in rhythm but, critically, this doesn't matter, and he completely nails it. Farley is a grotesque and cartoonish character, even more so than the screen version, and Little has the right amount of sleaze and charm in equal measures.

Mmmmm, sleaze

While Ben Kerr may have a relatively small role (in the film, Brad and Farley was a dual role - this is an aspect dropped from the stage production), he takes what he has and runs with it, and hearts (amongst other parts) were certainly a flutter when he inexplicably loses most of his clothes i the latter half of the show. As for his almost-but-not-quite-estranged wife, Janet.... Julie Atherton is... phenomenal. One thing that never sat quite right in the motion picture, was Jessica Harper's Janet. Sure she had the lungs, but Janet is a suburban housewife who unwittingly transorms into an awkward femme fatale. Harper seems more comfortable as the femme fatale and doesn't sell the suburban housewife bit very well. Atherton however.... nails it. Despite the plays silly and over-the-top nature, the audience completely buys into Janet's journey to femme fatale and back again as she re-asserts her love for her husband at the end. Oh, and she's got the lungs to rival Harper.

Janet is taunted by Mac

For me, though, the stand-out star of the show was Mateo Oxley as the camp, cheesy, Farley-obsessed TV host Ralph Hapshatt. In one of numerous changes to the story, Ralph's signature number becomes 'Thank God I'm a Man'. In the film, the humour of the number sometimes feel a tad sour as it is delivered by Janet's unpleasant, homophobic father, and as such can leave a nasty taste in the mouth. Here it becomes immensely enjoyable when performed, tongue-firmly in cheek, by the fantastically fabulous closet-case Ralph as he struggles desperately with his own sexuality. Oxley threatens to steal every scene he's in, even when he's in the background, you can guarantee there'll be a look or movement that will come close to stealing the attention away from whoever is the focus of the scene.

Oxley's Ralph - trapped in a transparent closet

Making up the rest of the cast are Adam Rhys-Davies and Nic Lamont (aka The Twins Macabre) as Riff Riff & Magenta expys Drs Cosmo & Nation McKinley, and Rosanna Hyland as Ralph's beard Betty. Hyland is as beautiful and talented as Julie Atherton is, which helps the whole cast come across as much more of a genuine ensemble rather than 'Leading Lady + Man + Others' which it so easily could have been. Watching the Twins as the incestuous brother/sister duo and one often wonders whether they were the bastard love children of Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn. The sleaze, filth and joi de vivre brought by O'Brien and Quinn in Rocky Horror was somewhat lacking in the film sequel, but Rhys-Davies and Lamont bring it... in spades.

Lock up your daughters. And sons. And pets.

As well as streamlining the storyline, the team also crank up the innuendo and drop in a few references to Rocky Horror, to give hardcore fans an extra thrill. It's a Rocky Horror sequel... so expect audience participation! Get ready to sing along, shout, and if you're very lucky you might have one of the gorgeous young things from the cast crawling all over your lap.

Not pictured: Little Black Dress

Packed with comedy, fantastic performances, and show-stopping musical numbers, Shock Treatment is an essential night out. Luckily the original run has been extended (though Mark Little who had other commitments has now been replaced with Pete Gallagher) so don't delay and get your tickets asap. If there's any justice in the world, this will be picked up by a major West End Theatre, to give the crew the 'treatment' they deserve. But in the meantime, get yourself down to the King's Head... I promise that you won't regret it.