Archives for February 2023

HAMILTON’S RIFF RAFF

English born Richard O’Brien moved with his family to New Zealand when he was 10 years old. As a young man, he worked as a barber on the ground floor of the Embassy cinema in Hamilton. This rather rundown venue specialized in “B” grade double feature horror movies. When Richard had time, he would watch these films and when he moved to London in search of some acting jobs, in the 1970s, he spent the long winter nights there writing a musical that was heavily influenced by the horror films he had seen in Hamilton. He set his play against the backdrop of the glam era of British popular culture of the period. read more