Initial Thoughts

After two practice runs with Narrative & Genre (The Virtuous Burglar and Rumpelstiltskin), we were set the initial stages of the final task. These were to select a scene from a play of our choice, and begin to develop ideas for the scenic design of that scene in three different genres. We discussed how there are broad, wide-reaching genres, such as horror, sci-fi, romance, comedy, among others, and how sub-genres branch off from there. For instance, sub-genres of horror could include psychological horror, slasher, ghost stories, etc.

The scene I chose to look at is the Floor Show from the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show. The show is about a straight-laced, uptight American couple, Brad and Janet, who get a flat tire while out in the woods, and go to a nearby castle to ask for help. The castle is home to the transvestite mad scientist from outer space, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and his servants, who insist they stay the night and become prey to Frank's depraved mind. The show was written by Richard O'Brien, and first performed in 1973 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London. The cast included Tim Curry as Frank, Christopher Malcolm and Julie Covington as Brad and Janet respectively, and O'Brien himself played the role of the butler Riff Raff.

The Floor Show scene comes at the climax of the show, after Brad and Janet have been drugged. Frank arranges a burlesque floor show to be performed ("in an empty house, in the middle of the night"), as a way of satisfying his desires. The floor show is performed by Frank, Brad, Janet, the groupie Columbia, and Frank's experiment Rocky. It begins with the song 'Rose Tint My World', as the four "lesser" performers speak their minds in song. Frank then makes a dramatic entrance in the song "Fanfare/Don't Dream It", as well as the character of Dr. Scott in his wheelchair, clad in suspenders. Finally an upbeat kickline is formed in "Wild And Untamed Thing". The floor show is then interrupted by the servants Riff Raff and Magenta, who dramatically announce that they intend to kill Frank and return to their home planet. The song can be heard below.

The scene from the film can be seen here.

At the very least, the scene requires room for five actors, an actor in a wheelchair, and a way for two others to enter later on. The script for the scene reads "Each enters singly - wearing black stockings and suspenders and black underwear and finally they become a slow motion chorus line". As such, it mentions very little in terms of location, props, set, or lighting. The various productions throughout the years have developed the scene independently, and most hold some common similarity to each other. Usually this involves Frank being framed in the center by the other four performers, and remaining in the center of the kickline throughout the entire scene. The only other details that are specified is that Riff Raff and Magenta are wearing "extraterrestrial national costume" when they crash the floor show. Apart from that, artistic freedom seems to be the general idea that O'Brien wanted when writing the script.