Review: Shock Treatment at the King's Head Theatre

Shock Treatment
King's Head Theatr
Reviewed on Tuesday 21st April 2015
★★★

The Rocky Horror Show premiered off-West End in 1973 at the Royal Court Theatre. Forty-two years later its sequel Shock Treatment is receiving its stage premiere at the King's Head, an off-West End pub theatre in Angel.

Interview: Rosanna Hyland, starring in world stage premiere of Shock Treatment

Rosanna Hyland is starring as Betty Hapschatt in the world stage premiere of Shock Treatment, the sequel to The Rocky Horror Show.

Directed by Benji Sperring, the show opens at the King’s Head Theatre tonight (21st April) and runs until 9th May 2015. Shock Treatment has music and lyrics by Richard Hartley and Richard O'Brien. It is based on the 1981 movie.

Rosanna recently starred as Hope Cladwell in Jamie Lloyd’s production of Urinetown which transferred to the West End’s Apollo Theatre following a run at the St James Theatre. 

Her credits also include: understudy Julie Jordan in Carousel (Savoy), Sister Act (Palladium), understudy Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical (Drury Lane), Helga in Cabaret (Singapore) and the workshop of Stephen Ward (Sydmonton Festival).

I recently spoke to Rosanna about why she’s had so much fun working on Shock Treatment, what advice Richard O'Brien gave the cast and what it’s like to look back on her time in Urinetown… 

Did you know anything about Shock Treatment previously?

Yes – I already knew about it because I’m a big Rocky Horror fan… to the point of writing my college pieces about it [laughs]. I’d seen the film years ago so knew quite a lot, when I found out about this it was exciting news because I knew it was the first time it had ever been staged!

Julie Atherton & Rosanna Hyland to star in Rocky Horror sequel Shock Treatment

WhatsOnStage have announced that Julie Atherton and Rosanna Hyland will star in Shock Treatment at the King's Head Theatre. The musical is a sequel to The Rocky Horror Show. 

The pair will play Janet and  Betty Hapschatt in the production which runs between 17th April and 9th May 2015. Marking its stage premiere, the show has music and lyrics by Richard Hartley and Richard O'Brien. Benji Sperring directs. It is based on the 1981 movie. 

Known as musical theatre's queen of new writing, Julie Atherton has played leading roles in Thérèse Raquin and LIFT, both by Craig Adams. She famously created the roles of Kate Monster and Lucy The Slut in the original West End production of Avenue Q (Noël Coward & Gielgud). Atherton made her West End debut as Sophie in Mamma Mia (Prince Edward) and went on to play Serena Katz in Fame (Aldwych & UK Tour). 

Review: Urinetown at the Apollo Theatre

Urinetown

Apollo Theatre

Reviewed on Wednesday 8th October 2014

★★★★★

Jonathan Slinger

For the past few months I've been telling everyone who missed Urinetown during its sell-out run at the St James Theatre to make sure they catch the musical in its new West End home. Of course the reply I always receive is, "What on earth is that about?" 

To put it simply, instead of retelling a love story or following a journey to self-discovery as many musicals do, Urinetown looks into how the world would cope if we lost the privilege to pee. Those who break the rules are sent to Urinetown but, of course, there is a rebellion.

It's important to point out that Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis' show is a satirical musical comedy. The tone is perfect with the Narrator, Officer Lockstock (Jonathan Slinger) and Little Sally (Karis Jack) making fun of musicals in general as well as Urinetown's dark story and peculiar title. The piece is written cleverly and it's so refreshing to see it in the West End. The satirical humour makes Urinetown totally unique and I am confident it could build up a hugely dedicated audience.