By Jon Dunbar
Seoul Players will do the “Time Warp” again for Halloween, staging a shadow cast production of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” this Friday and Saturday.
“‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ isn’t just a movie ― it’s an experience,” said Chris Zaczek, producer of the event and a board member for Seoul Players. “For so many, this movie is about interaction, and acceptance. It’s about being a part of the show. It’s about having complete permission to be as wild and outrageous as you want.”
The original 1975 musical comedy horror was a tongue-in-cheek tribute to sci-fi and horror B movies. The plot involves newlyweds, a mad scientist, his sexy creation, alien invaders and lots of gender-bending dancing and music. Starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, it has become a cult classic perfect for midnight screenings.
“This isn’t some Oscar-nominated film where you are almost forced to cry at the end,” said choreographer Angie Ahn, who played the part of Columbia last year. “To enjoy Rocky as a virgin to the fullest, set your usual standards aside, get out of your head and take it in moment by moment like a scrumptious bite of chocolate mousse.”
For six years, Seoul Players has presented a shadow cast, who act out and dance to the movie as it is screened behind them.
“The film doesn’t take itself seriously and so it seems only appropriate that neither would we,” said Sam Osborn, director. “The performance is irreverent for sure, but there’s also all the fun callbacks. The audience will have quite a few opportunities to interact with the film and with our live cast.”
This year, the Seoul-based troupe found the perfect venue: the cavernous, dungeon-like Club Freebird near Hongik University, western Seoul. Tickets cost 10,000 won and are only available at the door.
“Even 15 years ago, Halloween existed in Korea only as a holiday to be celebrated in foreign-run schools and after-school programs,” said Zaczek. “And now, if you look at the landscape of the party scene in Seoul … every bar, every club, every restaurant celebrates Halloween to the nines. Because it is a holiday of expression, of sexuality, of imagination. And Rocky Horror epitomizes that creative need to express yourself, be it through song, through costume or through sexuality.”
Seoul Players is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based English-language theater group started here in 2001. Next month they’ll hold their sixth annual 10-minute play festival, pitting 16 original short plays against each other. Visit seoulplayers.org for more info and show times.