An Interview with Jackie Clune ahead of Rocky Horror Show in York

Before the Rocky Horror Show arrives in York, Graham Clark chatted to Jackie Clune, who plays the Narrator in the musical…

The show is coming to York, have you ever visited the city before?
My sister studied in York and is also quite an expert on the stained glass work in York Minster. I love York and have performed in theatre there many times, the last time was the 9 to 5 Dolly Parton musical and are so excited that I am coming back to York as the narrator in the Rocky Horror Show.

What attracted you to the role of the Narrator?
It is great fun to play that role – as the Narrator I am the only person in the musical who can talk back to the audience – the audience are like another character in the show, for anyone who has seen the musical before will know that there are standard shot outs that the audience come up with. My career started off doing stand up comedy shows so coming to Rocky Horror is like going back to my roots, I get to improvise every night, have a laugh and encourage the audience to misbehave.

For anyone seeing the show for the first time, they might feel like a Gatecrasher at a private party, would you agree?
Yes I would – that is a good way to describe a first experience of seeing Rocky Horror. We were in Paris a few weeks ago and after the show a member of the audience came up to me to apologise for his friend shouting out and trying to spoil the show – he didn’t realise that this was normal practice when watching Rocky Horror.

How do you deal with some of the unusual responses from some members of the audience?
I love it when it becomes really random, there are set responses to certain lines that I can answer easily. The Scottish audiences comes out with really random responses but I am in my element and it also keeps me on my toes too.

Do you have a favourite part of the show?
In terms of the whole show I enjoy all of the musical. I adore the music and the floor show which comes towards the end and of course the Time Warp song which we do twice every performance.

Why do you think the show continues to be so successful?
Rocky Horror is a fun show, great tunes and being who you want to be; it might be slightly queer in that you can be who you want to be and no one should try to limit you. The LGBTQ community were harassed when the musical first debuted over fifty years ago and that message is still relevant today. Dressing up to attend the show is all part of the experience, we see blokes coming to the show who are dressed up in Drag. The songs that come from the era of T-Rex and David Bowie in their Glam Rock period drive the rhythm in the show – the musical style as so well done and I think that is another aspect of why the show continues to attract audiences.

What would you say to anyone who has yet to see the Rocky Horror show?
You will have a fun time and genuinely have a good night out and you’ll feel uplifted. God knows we need it. You’ll feel part of something bigger than yourself and will come away feeling far happier.

The Rocky Horror Show is at York Grand Opera House from Monday 20th July to Saturday 25th July