The reviews are in for CanStage’s revival of The Rocky Horror Show, which opened last week at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto, and they’re not pretty.

Paula Citron of the Globe and Mail writes:

Pity the poor Rocky Virgins, that distinct underclass of society who has never experienced either the stage or movie versions of Richard O’Brien’s high camp, transsexual, sci-fi, musical spoof The Rocky Horror Show. After attending the CanStage production, they are not going to have any idea what the show is about, even after it’s over, because they won’t have heard a word.

…Actor Eddie Glen comes out before the show to tell the crowd they can shout out and use their props, but to refrain from throwing anything at the actors. There is even a Prop Rules & Instructions page in the program. Glen also administers the Transylvanian Oath, and leads the ritual that usually begins each screening where the Rocky Virgins pop their cherries.

Amid the almighty din that accompanies the performance, dialogue and lyrics go south. What is worse, when the audience does shut up for the songs, the diction of the performers is incomprehensible, which is too bad because O’Brien did write some clever lyrics to his fifties’ rock pastiche tunes. In other words, this RHS performance is virtually like a silent movie engulfed in deafening noise.

John Coulbourn of the Toronto Sun also takes issue with the audience interaction:

If you find theatrical attempts to orchestrate anarchy not only oxymoronic, but vaguely creepy to boot, you might think twice about heading out to the production of The Rocky Horror Show that opened Thursday at the Bluma Appel Theatre.

He singles out several strong performers in the cast, but also notes the chaos they’re fighting against:

Sadly, even their work is diminished by the combination of John Bent Jr.’s muddy sound design and a relentless opening-night clack seemingly determined to convince us we were all having the time of our lives.

Yeah, yeah, we know it’s cool to shout out at the movie, but frankly, in a theatre, a choice between hearing the esteemed John Neville deliver his lines via film as Narrator or someone from the audience scream “Slut,” “A–hole” or “There is no phone in a castle,” like they were on auto-pilot, doesn’t seem to be much of a choice at all.

I think that trying to replicate the experience of the Rocky Horror Picture Show in a live theatre is a lose-lose proposition. The die-hard fans will certainly feel constricted by the necessary rules (unless you want them throwing things at your actors), and traditional theatre-goers (especially subscribers) will grow weary of the audience’s antics long before the final curtain.

If you’ve seen or been involved with a production of The Rocky Horror Show that successfully incorporated the film’s audience participation elements, post a comment an let us know how it was done.

While you’re thinking, here are CanStage’s “rules” mentioned above.