The Rocky Horror Show: what on earth is it all about!

Stand-up Nathan Caton admits he didn't really know what The Rocky Horror Show was when he auditioned and then joined the cast.

Nearly two years later, he admits he still probably doesn't really know.

“My wife is the same. She's seen the show quite a few times now and she still says ‘What on earth exactly is it!’”

But whatever it is, Nathan has long since discovered that his comedy background is the perfect preparation for his role as the narrator.

The show is at The Congress Theatre, Eastbourne from Tuesday-Saturday, May 19-23.

Starring Jason Donovan as the iconic Frank-n-Furter, the show will turn the venue into the infamous creepy manor Oakley Court for the story of two squeaky-clean college kids Brad and his fiancée Janet. When by a twist of fate, their car breaks down whilst on their way to visit their former college professor, they meet the charismatic Dr Frank-n-Furter. Chaos ensues…

“I've been with the tour from the start which was the summer 2024,” Nathan says. “I've done a few weeks with Rocky Horror and then I've done my stand-up, and the show is just crazy. It is just bonkers. To explain the story as a narrative is just very, very difficult and I've been doing it since 2024. It's bonkers and it is fun and there is a lot of participation and there is a lot of music and a lot of dance.”

“I'm a comedian. I can't sing and I can't dance, and what is left really after that is the role of the narrator. I can do that. The audience heckles and the audience shouts out and that is just food and drink for me. They can shout out stuff as much as they like but I'll always come straight back at them. There are some shout-outs that you don't expect or maybe someone shouts out something in the wrong place or maybe someone shouts out something original and you just think fair play to them. But I can cope with that.

“Basically there is a bit of freedom. I'm not rigidly stuck to the script but the director Chris Luscombe said to me I could actually go off a little bit if I wanted but I always had to come back to the audience quite quickly. It is not like doing stand-up where you go off on a massive tangent for ten minutes. With this you've got to return to it quickly. It is not The Nathan Caton Show. It is still The Rocky Horror Show!

“But I look at the actors and look at the dancers and I think how can they remember those lines and how can they move their body in that way. But they're probably thinking how do I know what to say back at the audience. It’s just great fun all round.

“I have been doing stand-up now for 20 or 21 years. I am an old man! But I'm always looking for new material. I'm always watching the news, always thinking what I can do. People might say it's hard but I have been doing this for so long now it comes easily.

“But this is my first role like this. I've done little cameo roles but not something like this before but I'd always been interested in doing theatre stuff and then this came up totally randomly out of the blue. My agent sent me the link. I didn't know what Rocky Horror was so just thought I'd give it a go and I did the audition for a quick five minutes and then I heard back that they were wanting to meet me and talk to me more and I was just thinking that surely they must have got the wrong Nathan! And then I watched the show on YouTube and I was just thinking this is utterly bonkers! They can’t mean me!”