In the spirit of Halloween, Stony Brook’s Pocket Theatre performed Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show” on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in the Leadership and Service Center.
During the break between the 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. show on Nov. 1, the actors scrambled around to change clothes, mingle and set up for the next show.
It was a jumble of racing theatre students in risqué dress. All of the actors and the crew, were half-dressed in dark, gothic clothing. Many of them sported fishnet stockings.
“We have a more burlesque theme, it’s a bit more sexy,” Elizabeth Beckett, a senior theatre major who directed the show, said about how this performance will differ from others.
According to Beckett, this is the first musical that they have executed since 2005. She described it as “new territory” for the actors.
Pocket Theatre performers set up round tables around the room. The tables were adorned with black and red table cloths. On top of them sat bottles of soda, water and wine bottles. Some tables even found condoms scattered on top.
At the event, they gave students brown paper bags, which contained props and instructions. Some of the instructions included how to do the “Time Warp” dance, although many fans in the audience did not need the instructions.
The bag also consisted of pom-poms to throw at the actors and a list of the “callbacks” that the audience members could shout out. When the performers said certain names or words, audience members could participate by yelling out various terms to the actors.
The cast received active feedback from the audience who was shouting out the callbacks during the show.
“I can’t describe the feeling of seeing something that everybody has worked so hard on,” Beckett said. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world, I’m on a high.”
Students Jenn Islam, junior sociology and women studies major and Christina Ortiz, junior political science major, said that the callbacks were one of their favorite parts.
“It was way better than the movie,” Ortiz said. They said that they knew about the show because it was advertised well.
Two out of the groups three shows sold out. The one that did not sell out, the 6 p.m. Nov. 1 show, sold more than half of the tickets.
The show had the audience laughing from beginning to end, but it may not be for anybody who is uncomfortable with sex or nudity.
The show opened up with a spotlight in the middle of the audience focused on the character Magenta, played by junior Kayla Figetakis, wearing a silver sequin dress and singing. She pranced around the audience, eventually making her way to the stage.
The actors were not restricted to the stage. Often times they ran and danced through the audience, or snuck up behind their chairs and performed a sexy dance.
Dinner was served at 9:45 p.m.
“I love that the actors were having fun with it and that they weren’t taking it too seriously,” Lisa Finn, who traveled from the city to see the performance said. She also said that the cast was spot-on with their characters.
Olatunde Ola, a senior who is studying theatre arts, played Rocky. He spent the majority of the show wearing nothing but shiny gold underwear.
“At first it was uncomfortable,” Ola said. “After a while, you get used to the cast and pretty much everybody has seen you naked.”
Pocket Theatre hopes to perform more musical shows like this in the future. Meghan Ames, who is in her last semester at Stony Brook, played Janet. She describes the cast as a big family.
“There are so many people in this cast that I would have never met if it wasn’t for Rocky Horror and sincerely every one of them is an amazing soul,” Ames said