I have seen Rocky Horror both the stage and the picture show many, many times. You know pretty much exactly what you are going to get. Lots of pelvic thrusting and lewd behaviour. Tonight was guaranteed to be the same but different. Tonight was a bit of an unknown. The lead was replaced just before the Brisbane season. The understudy gets the big break every understudy always dreams of. And while all eyes are always on Frank in the Rocky Horror Show, this changes everything. There's a very different dynamic, especially as the original Frank stood down because of accusations of inappropriate conduct. I feel torn, and this has nothing to do with the fact that I've seen and delighted in Craig Mclachlan's performance as Frank before. What worries me is a seemingly impossible balancing act. You must have zero tolerance for abusers. You must have zero tolerance for those who seek to cast doubt on whistle blowers or victims. But we must also hold dear a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. This is a moral imperative not just a legal one, and it applies to the court of public opinion as well as trial by media not just in the law courts in my book. I wish this was possible. I don't see how it is. It's a question for greater minds than mine. In the mean time in the best theatrical tradition, the show must go on. Not doing so would be to victimise the rest of the cast and all the other creatives and others in the entertainment industry invested in the show. And Brisbane came out frocked up and ready to do the Time Warp again.
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