When It Comes to Casting “Rocky Horror”, Age Matters
(Photo: Theatre Royal Sydney)
by Chris Peterson
Every October, theatres start circling back to The Rocky Horror Show, and I get why. It sells. Audiences love it. People show up ready to shout, dress up, laugh, and do the whole glorious midnight-movie-adjacent ritual. I say this as someone who enjoys Rocky Horror. I understand the fun of it.
But liking a show does not mean pretending every production choice is fine, and casting minors in Rocky Horror is one of those choices that should make people stop and think.
This is not about keeping young performers out of theatre. Teenagers should have places to perform, grow, take risks, and be taken seriously as artists. But not every show is for every age, and Rocky Horror is not neutral material. It is built around sex, desire, temptation, bodies, liberation, and adult chaos. The camp does not erase that. If anything, it makes the whole thing louder.
We have already seen what happens when companies ignore this. A few years ago, a community theatre in Ohio drew attention for casting a 16-year-old as Rocky. The theatre defended the decision, but the controversy quickly became bigger than the production itself. That should have been enough of a warning.
Parental approval does not solve the whole problem. A teenager wanting the role does not solve the whole problem either. The theatre still has a responsibility to the performer, the adult cast members sharing those scenes, and the audience being asked to watch it. At some point, the question is not, “Can we technically do this?” It is, “Why are we trying so hard to justify it?”
There are plenty of shows where young performers can explore romance, rebellion, identity, and complicated emotions in ways that are challenging without putting them in adult sexual material alongside adults. Rocky Horror needs performers with the maturity and agency to understand exactly what they are stepping into.
And frankly, casting minors can damage the show too. Instead of watching the wild, messy, liberating fun that makes Rocky Horror work, the audience is left wondering whether they should be uncomfortable. That is not edgy. It is distracting.
So if your theatre is producing The Rocky Horror Show, cast adults. Protect the performers. Respect the audience. Let the show be outrageous without making a teenager carry that weight.